The Return to Planet
by Xardion
Summary: Jenova is back and so is Sephiroth. Now the race to save the Planet is on. CloudTifa, ZackAeris, VincentLucrecia, YuffieNanaki pairings Final Chap. is here! Please R&R.
1. Flashback

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or the characters within.

Chapter 1- 

_Lifestream_

_We meet again, Cloud._

_Sephiroth. This ends here._

_The two former members of Soldier faced off with their weapons drawn; Cloud with his Buster sword in it Ultima Weapon form and Sephiroth with his Mumasume sword. They ran at each other with loud battle cries. They would get only one strike at this and they both knew it. They neared each other and their weapon clashed. They found themselves on opposite sides, each remaining still. Then Sephiroth gasped and vanished into a flash of light. Cloud had been victorious._

_That was 1 year ago..._

Cloud Strife was sitting on a rock, remembering the events that occured the year before. His first mission in Avalanche, the fights to save Planet, his battle with Sephiroth and even...Aeris. She was never too far from his thoughts. He cared for her very much. It wasn't the same as he felt about Tifa, but Aeris had left a huge impact on his life as well as everyone else's. And she was the one truely responsible for saving the Planet.

"Cloud?"

Cloud turned around to see the canine face of his friend Nanaki, or Red XIII as they call him.

"Thinking about her again, huh?"

Cloud nodded before turning his head. Red XIII walked next to him and sat down.

"She used to scratch behind my ears. It was a little annoying, but it was nice after awhile."

Cloud looked down, "She was so full of life. Why did she have to die?"

Red XIII replied, "So that we can live. And that we can understand the Planet as she does."

Cloud looked at his friend. Despite being a child, he was far older than everyone in Avalanche. Cloud could always depend on him for advice.

"Thanks Red."

Red XIII then looked at his friend and then away again, "You loved her."

"Yes."

"But it's not the same as with Tifa, is it?"

"No, urr, well. I'm not sure. I care a lot for Tifa. She been there with me for everything. But Aeris usually comes to my mind often. I don't know for sure what that means."

"You already stated that you missed Aeris. Perhaps that is all. But then when it comes to you, perhaps not."

Cloud smiled, "Leave it up to you to make an already complicated problem seem simple."

"I never had that kind of problem before. So it is easier for me to see through."

Cloud noticed the pain in his voice. Nanaki was so far the only one of his kind left, although it was possible that more existed somewhere in the world.

"Don't worry, Red. I'm sure that one day, you'll find someone that will give you the same problems I have. Then solving it won't seem so easy."

Red XIII growled and began to walk away, "Oh, before I forget. Barret wanted to see you about a meeting we're suppose to have."

Cloud jumped up, "Oh man, why didn't you tell me sooner? I know just what he's going to say when I get there. He'll start off by saying....."

__________

"What took ya spikey-headed @$$ so long to get here? Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?"

Cloud had just entered the 7th Heaven bar with Red XIII. Already Barret, Cid and Tifa were gathered there waiting for them to arrive. Cid was smoking a cigar and Tifa was in the back with the glasses.

"Sorry, Barret. I ran into a monster on the way here. Shira was terrified so we had to get rid of it."

Shira was Cloud's golden chocobo. He had raised her from an egg and had been with him ever since. She even helped him find the Knights of the Round materia.

Cid moaned, "I don't know why you insist on giving the chocobo that name. It sounds so much like Shera's name."

Cloud smirked, "Is that so? Well then, I'll deliver some flowers to her instead, although I don't know how a chocobo would take it."

Everyone snicked a bit and Cid growled, "Keep it up. Just keep it up."

Tifa smiled from the back, "What were you doing out there anyway, Cloud?"

Cloud turned to her and a slight blush formed automatically on his face. "Oh nothing. Just sitting down thinking., remembering."

Tifa smiled, mostly because she noticed his blush. In fact, she was the only one. But inward, she was a little saddened. _He was thinking about Aeris again. He still misses her, even after all this time. Cloud, I thought that you and me..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of another person. A man wearing a black suit and shades walked in. He took off the glasses and greeted everyone.

Barret barked, "Well, if it isn't Reeve, in the flesh. What, no doll this time?"

Reeve looked at him casually, "Cait Sith needed a vacation. So is everyone here?"

Cid grumbled, "Only the important ones. So why'd you call us anyway?"

"It's about the renovation of Midgar. You already know that we managed to clear out most of the sector slums and upper levels. However, it will take a long time and we had to delay our other plans.

Cloud asked, "What other plans?"

"About the remaining Mako reactors. We wanted to shut them down and dismantle them so that they won't take any more out of the Lifestream."

Tifa leaned back, "So you need someone to do it for you? That being us, right?"

Reeve nodded, "Right."

Barret jumped up, "If that's all, then sure. No problem."

Cid jumped in as well, "Why not. It's been a boring couple of days."

Reeve nodded again and focused on the other three, "Well, what do you guys say?"

Red XIII nodded, "Okay, I'm in."

"Me too." was Tifa's response.

Cloud remained quiet. Reeve turned to him, "What about you, Cloud?"

"........"

"Cloud?"

"Huh? Oh sorry. Yeah, I'm in."

Tifa cast a worried glance, "Are you alright, Cloud?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just zoned out there."

Barret grumbled, "Big surprise. So when do we start?"

Reeve answered, "As soon as possible. We already have the first location for you guys. I believe you all are familar with the area."

"Nibelhium."

________

Northern Crater...

The icy pit that held the final battle for the fate of the Planet now lies dormant once again. Deep in its caverns though, no one would have guessed that something was alive down there. A creature thought to be dead. But it was very much alive. And it had only one thing on its mind.

Revenge.

____________

Meanwhile, within the depths of the planet, in the unknown world known as the Promised Land, a lone figure looks upward, sensing the disturbance soon to arise.

"Something is happening. Something…ominous."


	2. Journey

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII or the characters within.

Chapter 2-

The group has prepared for their trip. Barret left Marlene with Elmyra, Aeris's mother, to take care of her while he was gone. Red XIII was waiting outside and Cid was with him, smoking outside. Unfortunately, they would have to take a buggy all the way there since the Highwind was in need of repairs. In the hotel room where they were at, Cloud packed his belongings, which weren't much. An elixir, a few potions and his trusty Buster Sword. Cloud held it up. This weapon got me through many battles. But...it's not really mine. It belonged to someone else before.

Zack.

Cloud slowly began to remember his old friend. Probably his only real friend at the time. Zack was a 1st class Soldier. A real one, unlike him. But despite that, Zack stayed with him. Then that dreadful day when they left for their mission to Nibelhium with Sephiroth. Then everything turned into hell for both of them, literally. The town was set up in flames, with Sephiroth insanity after thinking he was the son of Jenova. His mother, Zack, even Tifa were hurt because of him. It was through his own willpower that he managed to actually defeat Sephiroth. But due to his injuries, he blacked out and the next thing he knew, he was in a chamber in Prof. Hojo's lab. And he wasn't alone. Zack had been captured as well. From then on, Cloud was put through a new nightmare each and every day as Hojo performed his sick experiments on him. From then on, Cloud's mind was a haze of images and blanks. The last clear image he remembers was in Midgar. He had awoken and Tifa was there. He mind was still hazy, but that much he remembers. It was there that he first joined up with Avalanche and the adventure began. _What ever became of Zack? And why was he thinking about this now? Does this have anything to do with his trip?_

"Hey Cloud."

Tifa. She came to check on him. She was about to say something else, but stopped. Cloud found himself unable to turn away from her. He owed Tifa a lot, he realized. Without her, he would have never discovered himself, never found out who he really was.

"Cloud?"

"Huh?" It was then that he realized also that he was staring at her too long. He could faintly make out a blush on her face.

"Sorry. I guess I zoned out again."

Tifa smiled, "As I was saying, everyone is waiting for us. And you know how much Barret loves waiting."

Cloud smiled back, "Of course. Well, let's mosey."

Tifa giggled a bit, _Hehe__,__ I can just hear Cid now._

Cloud set the sword on his back and walked downstairs with Tifa. The other where all waiting by the buggy and Barret was the first to talk.

"What took you so $%^&%^ long? Do you know how long we've been waiting here?"

"Barret! How many times do I have to tell you to watch your mouth?"

That was Elmyra. She had just walked out of the building, "You're lucky that Marlene is sleeping so she does have to hear that. Honestly, Barret."

Barret cast his eyes down, "Sorry."

The others chuckled a bit and Cloud walked over to Elmyra, "Thanks for agreeing to take care of Shira for me. She's gets uncomfortable in the stables."

Elmyra smiled, "No trouble at all, Cloud. Just you careful out there, alright?"

"Sure." 

Cid opened the door of the buggy. "Damn. I hate buggies. Not enough room."

Barret turned to him, "Well, we could have taken the Highwind if a certain someone hadn't decided to try to add an extra booster and wrecked it."

"Hey, give me a break. It almost worked. At least I was able to avoid the mountain."

Both Cloud and Tifa laughed for awhile. Cloud then went to the driver seat, "Alright, let's...:"

"Don't even think about saying it!" Cid and Barret cried out in unison.

".....go."

__________

Northern Crater

The being moved around like a shadow in the darkness. It crawled out of the deep, its intention as clear as it was thousands of years ago. It began speaking, but not in a language anyone could understand. The sounds of jingling bell echoed out into the cold night sky.

___________

Former Shinra Headquarters...

An evacuation team was clearing out the secondary control port of the Sister Ray. Once that was finished, then the immense cannon could be removed entirely. However, as the workers busily removed the cannons components, they failed to see a distorted hand claw out of some of the wreckage and emerge into a darken part of the room. An evil chuckle was heard coming from the figure.

"Yes. I hear you Jenova."


	3. More news

Disclaimer: Same as before

Chap. 3

The crew drove on through the grassy plains in the buggy. Normally Barret would have been the one to drive, but he let Cloud do it. Cloud still has a case of motion sickness and can only hold it if he is the one driving. Last time, Barret drove with Cloud in the rear and several times, Cloud had a queasy look on his face. He did his best not to let it affect him and for the most part, it worked. But Barret began to mess around with him further, driving the buggy through rough terrain and Cloud, well....gave Barret his response. From then on, it was preferred safer if Cloud drove. They drove all the way to past the Chocobo Ranch and stop by the swamp waters nearby. They had to reach the cavern on the other side, but they would have get past the Midgar Zoloms, the giant serpent creatures that lurked underneath.

Red XIII inquired, "We'll have to kill one to keep the others away."

Cloud nodded, "Right. You and Cid can come with me on this one. Barret, you stay here with Tifa."

Barret merely shrugged, but Tifa pouted, "Why should I stay here?"

"Because, Cid's leaping abilities are effective against it and my sword is the best thing to get through its scales."

"And what about Red XIII?"

"It was his idea. Besides, I'm the leader here, so there's no point in complaining."

Tifa folded her arms, her face still angry and Cloud sighed, "Alright, you can come. But one of you will have to stay here."

Cid walked back to the buggy, "I guess that's me."

Tifa thanked him and went with Cloud, who moaned inwardly. He didn't want her coming because he didn't want her to get hurt. True, she was one of the best martial artists in the world and was certainly capable of defeating a Zolom, but Cloud was worried nonetheless. _Why am I worried? She can take care of herself. She'd be the first one to say so._ With that in mind, the trio trudged through the swamp and walked into a clearing. They waited there briefly. Suddenly, a distant roar was heard and sure enough the Zolom arose from out of the ground and eyed the three potential meals. Both Tifa and Red XIII stood in fighting stance while Cloud reached back for his Buster Sword. The creature lunged at Red XIII and the canine dodged away and struck back. The serpent quickly moved out of the way of the attack and lashed out its tail at Cloud. Cloud rolled aside and Tifa lunged in and struck the monster. The creature noticed her and lunged, but she moved just as soon as its head reached the ground. Red XIII instantly hit its head, dazing the creature for a brief moment.

"Cloud, now!"

Cloud leapt high into the air, his sword raised above him in his Braver technique. Cloud struck down hard and the creature's head was severed. Its lifeless body trashed about for a while before finally stopping. Cloud wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Whew. That took longer than I thought."

Tifa bent down for a breath too, unaware that the ground behind her began to rise. Suddenly, another Zolom reared out to attack her and Tifa was wide open. Cloud ran to reach her, but he saw he was going to be too late. The creature was just about to chomp down when the sound of bullets flew through the air and the Zolom roared in pain. As Tifa rolled aside, Cloud leaped up and quickly finished the second Zolom another Braver.

"Tifa!"

Tifa was on the ground and she promptly got up, "Don't worry, I'm fine." Turning to the side, "Thanks Barret."

Barret called out, "That wasn't me!"

"What?!"

Everyone looked around for whoever it was that helped them, but no one was seen anywhere. As they walked to the buggy, they began wondering who the mysterious rescuer was. Then Red XIII sniffed the air.

"Familar...I know this scent."

"It's been awhile."

Everyone jumped at the new voice and turned to it and saw that it was...

"Vincent!"

Indeed it was him, cloaked in his usual red Turk attire and metal claw. He was just putting away his rifle, which was still smoking from the shots he had taken.

"Hey, what are you doing out here, Vince?" Cloud inquired.

Vincent quirked an eyebrow, "Please don't call me that. And as for the reason I'm here, you should come with me."

Barret stepped up, "You should tell us now. We're on a mission now."

"Where to?"

"Nibelhium."

Vincent nodded, "Well then you know."

"Know what?"

"Hmm. The number of monster attacks in the Nibel area has increased. Why that is, I don't know, but it's become a little difficult for me to handle."

"We where on our way there to shut down and destroy the reactor there. It must be what is responsible for these creatures. But something is wrong. Surely you wouldn't come to us just for that."

"Well, the truth is that I've noticed some activity near the reactor. But when I went to investigate, I was attacked by an overwhelming amount of monsters." Lifting up his arm, he showed a slight scar.  "I barely escaped. From the look of it, it was as though they were guarding something." Putting his arm down, "I would have called, but my PHS was damaged."

"I don't like this. We should get there as fast as possible."

The group walked to the buggy, but then stopped. The buggy couldn't hold all of them. Vincent waved his hand.

"Don't worry. I brought a chocobo with me.", he said as a black chocobo walked up to him. Vincent saddled on it and as he did, Tifa called out.

"Oh and thanks, Vincent." she smiled.

Vincent nodded and rode off. The others drove off in the buggy after him through the swamp. As they did, Cloud repeated in his head.

_I have a bad feeling about this._

______________________________________________


	4. The Reactor

Disclaimer: You already know

Chap 4

After a few days travel, the group finally arrived at the mountain town of Nibelhium. As they entered, the town was eerily quiet, which surprisingly was quite normal to them. The group headed for the Shina mansion, expecting the same dark creepy place. But to their surprise, the place was lit up, not brightly but enough to give it a more comfortable atmosphere. The place was clean and tidy, unlike before. It seemed similar to the haunted hotel in the Gold Saucer.  Everyone looked at Vincent.

"I had a lot of time on my hands. It has been a year after all. Make yourself comfortable."

Vincent disappeared into one of the rooms while everyone sat down.

Barret commented, "Wow. He really did a number on this place. Hardly recognized it."

"You said it." Cid lit up a cigarette, "This place used to be a regular haunted house. Now this place looks like it could be in business."

"I appreciate the compliment, but could you not smoke in here."

Vincent returned with several cups of tea. He sat it down on the coffee table before sitting down himself. Everyone grabbed a cup and took a drink.

"Heh, this is good." Tifa commented.

"Thank you. It's an old recipe." He then looked upstairs, "We should get some rest so we can leave early tomorrow." He began taking the cups after they finished with them and Barret yawned. "Yeah, the sooner, the better."

Red XIII saw Vincent take Tifa's cup and Tifa's smile. He also noticed that Cloud was eyeing the two of them. Red moved toward the stairs, but stopped briefly in front of Cloud and whispered.

"They look kind of cute together, don't you think?"

Cloud didn't respond.

The next day, everyone arose and packed early. They then began their trek across the dangerous Mt. Nibel. They had to be very cautious, for two reasons. One, the sharp ridges of the mountain made it nearly impossible to travel though without a guide. Fortunately, Tifa was the expert in that area. The second was the monsters Vincent had warned them about. They kept on alert as they travel, but no signs of the creatures appeared, aside from the usual monster that showed up. They were dispatched quickly and they were almost at the reactor.

Vincent shook his head, "Something is wrong."

Cid turned to him, "You think so?"

Tifa agreed, "Yeah, getting up was too easy."

Barret called out, "Well, it's too late to turn back now."

Cloud nodded, "Yeah. Let's keep going."

With that, the group made it to the top. There awaiting them was the Nibelhium reactor. The place that started their first adventure and unknown to them, their next. Cloud stood in front of the cylinder shaped building.

­­

This place is just full of bad memories. He looked over to Tifa and found that she was also looking at him.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to tell me to wait outside, Cloud?" she smiled.

Cloud smiled back, "Heh, not this time. Let's go."

With that, everyone walked in. Amazingly, all of the reactors functions were still moving despite its outward appearance.

"So where do we start?" Cid asked.

Barret looked around, "We should start with the engineering room first, then we could..."

"No."

That came from Vincent, "The Jenova chamber. We should start there."

"What?"

"He's right. We should shut down that area before anything else." That was Cloud who spoke.

They looked at him briefly, wondering if he was alright with this. In truth, he wasn't sure, but he needed to do this, needed to face his demons. So he led them into the lower chamber, using the pole to slide down to the lower level. The smell of blood could faintly be detected in the air as they walked in the chamber room. It was as Cloud remembered it, the egg-shaped pods that rowed upward along the stairs in the center and the sealed door with the word JENOVA inscribed in it. Cloud remembered this place well.

_Flashback..._

Sephiroth had just ended his fight with Zack and cast him out of Jenova's chamber. Sephiroth had turned around to face his 'mother' once again when a figure appeared behind him. He turned around just to see a Shinra guard stab him with Zack's sword.

"My family....give me back my family!"

Sephiroth slumped over and fell and the guard moved away from him, shaking slightly before removing his helmet, revealing himself to be Cloud. Cloud left the Jenova chamber and knelt down in front of an injured Tifa. Then from above, Sephiroth stumbled out, carrying a canister with a pod inside it. He failed to see Cloud as he walked out. On one of the pods, Zack gaggled out.

"Cloud. Kill...Sephiroth."

Cloud looked back at Tifa and then ran after Sephiroth. He found him in the core of the reactor.

"Sephiroth!"

Cloud ran at Sephiroth and Sephiroth swiftly reversed his sword and ran it through Cloud.

"Don't...press...your luck."

He then lifted the sword up, with Cloud on the other end, impaling him. But suddenly Cloud began to struggle and grab hold off the blade. He then managed to lower himself back onto the ground. Sephiroth was astonished

"This can't be..."

Then in one fluid motion, Cloud raised the sword up, with Sephiroth in the air this time. He then flung the sword, along with its master into the core. Sephiroth screamed as he fell into the Mako core. Then Cloud fell and blacked out...

_Present..._

"Look there."

Red XIII pointed up to one of the chambers. At first, no one noticed anything about it, it was just a old de-activated Mako pod, except for one thing...

This one was still on. The group began to walk toward the flight of stairs when a loud roar sounded throughout the room. Everyone turned around and they saw the ground splitting open.

"What is that?"

A long tentacle grew out and opened up like a flower. A body and head reared out of it and the body split out numerous tentacles that waved carelessly in the air. But it was the creatures head that got their attention. Despite its hideous form, its features were female, a woman. A familiar looking woman.

_No. It can't be....her._

_________________


	5. An old enemy

Disclaimer: You know the drill

Chap. 5

The creature roared and lashed out a tentacle, catching Cid off guard and knocking him into the wall. Then it looked at Red XIII and lashed out again. However Red saw it coming and nimbly dodged it. He then attacked and bit into one of the tentacles. But the creature snapped upward, sending Red flying through the air and into Cloud. Vincent grabbed his rifle and fired along with Barret. This did nothing more than catch the monster's attention and it lashed out at them. Vincent leapt up into one of the rafters while Barret rolled to the side. Tifa took this opportunity to leap up to the creature and smash its face with a heavy punch. The monster was unaffected and it roared in anger. It then summoned energy and Tifa was blown with a Fire2 attack.

"Tifa!"

Cloud and Red XIII had gotten up and got on both sides of the monster. Cloud attacked first, leaping into the air with his sword above him. But when he struck down, he hit an invisible barrier, knocking him back a bit.

"It's got a barrier. We need to break through it."

Red XIII heard him and summoned the materia on his barrette. A blue glow emitted and a Bolt2 struck down, hurting the monster.

Raaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

"We need something stronger." Red said as he dodged another tentacle lash.

Vincent yelled, "I have a better idea." Vincent then shimmered with energy and shards of the barrier appeared. The barrier was destroyed.

"Now we got em."

However, the monster stopped moving and summoned great amounts of energy and let it loose in a shockwave. Everyone was knocked down by the force.

"What the....Ultima?"

Suddenly, a burst of energy was felt. Everyone looked and saw Tifa standing up in a glow of light.

"Beat Rush!"

Tifa dashed forward and hit a combination attack on the monster, which roared in even more pain. However, Tifa wasn't done yet.

"Waterkick!"

She twirled in a sweep-like fashion and hit the monster below. Tifa was about to use the next attack when she suddenly tired out. Damn, I didn't have enough power. And that prove to be a fatal flaw as the creature wrapped a tentacle around her and began to squeeze.

"Tifa!" Cloud stumbled up, but was still hurt from the Ultima attack and fell back down. Tifa strained under the grip, keeping herself from screaming. Then, in a moment, she fell back down to the ground and the monster was slashed in two. Behind it, Cid stood there, his lance driven it the ground.

"Guess you forgot about me."

The monster gave a final roar before it dissolved. Everyone slowly got to their feet.

Cid lit a cigarette, "That was close."

Red XIII looked at the remains, "That creature. It looked like..."

"Yeah." Cloud finished. "It was her. It was a piece of Jenova."

Barret grumbled, "I don't believe this. I thought Jenova was dead."

"We all did." said Vincent as he helped Tifa up

"Thanks. But why did it attack now?"

Red XIII walked up the stairs, "From the way it looked, it was trying to keep up away from this." He then pointed to the active pod. "We should see why."

Everyone walked up and Barret looked in the pod first and suddenly jumped back. "What the heck is this?"

Cloud began to walk up, "A SOLDIER, more or less. Sephiroth once said, normal members of Soldier are infused with intense amounts of Mako energy, giving them unusual powers. But here, it's more than Mako. Its Jenova cells. At least it was. But since Jenova is no longer here, these things shouldn't be active."

Tifa looked in and gasped. Cloud shook his head, "Scary, aren't they."

"No, Cloud. Look inside."

Cloud walked up the pod, expecting a grotesquely mutated monster. Instead, in the chamber, with a partly deformed face was...

"Zack!"

_Note: Sorry that this chapter is so short. I make it up in the next one._


	6. and friend

Disclaimer: I do not own this. Blah, blah, blah.

Chap. 6

She expected him to be shocked and he was.

She expected him to scream out his name and he did.

What she didn't expect was for him to grab his sword and start swinging at the pod. Everyone jumped out of the way as Cloud madly slashed and struck the chamber, the same way Sephiroth did years before. Finally, Barret and Cid managed to grab him and yank him away. Cloud struggled against them, his Mako green eyes flashed in anger.

"Let me go! I have to get him out of there!"

Cid struggled to hold him tight, "Calm down, Cloud."

Barret also barely held him, "Damn, this kid's a lot stronger than he looks."

Cloud continued to struggle and they were loosing their grip. Suddenly, Tifa stood in front of him and gave him a hard slap.

Whap!!!

"Cloud! Stop it!" Tifa snapped.

Cloud stopped struggling, shocked by what Tifa did. He then blinked a few times before slumping down to the ground. Tifa bent down to him.

She held out her hand and spoke softly, "We'll get him out. Don't worry."

Cloud looked up at her and nodded slightly. He took her soft hand and lifted himself up. "Thanks, Tifa."

Barret also looked at Tifa. _Amazing.__ Cold and serious one minute and warm and soft the next._

Red XIII searched around the chamber, "There is a switch over here in the back. I believe it controls the power."

Vincent bent next to him, "You're right." Hitting the switch, the chamber light began to dim and fade and then disappear totally. Vincent then hit the latch and slowly opened it. A multi-green gas sprayed out and faded in the air and Vincent opened it totally. A body fell out and Cloud turned it over. Zack's body was basically unchanged especially with the black spiky hair, except that his right face and arm was distorted like a creature.

Barret looked over at him, "Is he still alive?"

Cloud snapped, "Of course he's alive!"

Barret backed off and Tifa gave him a sad look. Cloud noticed and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry. Yeah, he's alive."

Red XIII moved closer, "Yes. He would not be in there if he wasn't alive. But is he..." He took a brief glance at Cloud, "...himself?"

Cloud looked at Zack and grew worried. _Are you....still Zack? Still my best friend?_

"Hey guys. Look at this."

Cid was standing in front of the Jenova door. Cloud lent Zack on the pod and walked up with the others.

"From the looks of this, someone's been in here." He pointed to a control panel which was partially shredded. "Something must have ripped this panel to get in."

"Strange."

"What?"

"Why would something rip the panel to get in here? If they did that, then they would have never gotten in. This door's lock opened only to Sephiroth, so nothing else could have gotten in."

"A trick."

"Huh?"

"This was done after someone exited the chamber to throw us off. The question is, who could have gotten in."

"Well, besides Sephiroth, there's no one else who could have gotten in."

"There is someone. Hojo."

"What? No way. Didn't we kill him on the Sister Ray?"

"True. But then again, we killed Jenova as well. Hojo infused himself with Jenova cells, so if Jenova lives, then it's quite likely that he is alive as well."

_Jenova__...alive.__ And Hojo as well. I knew I had a bad feeling._

Suddenly a low shuffle of movement was heard behind them. They looked down to see Zack standing up, hunched over. Cloud slowly moved down the stairs to his old friend.

"Zack? Are you...alright?"

In response, Zack suddenly lunged at Cloud and slammed him into the ground. Cloud looked up and saw his friend's eyes. They had no pupils and they glowed in an intense green. Zack lunged at Cloud again, but Cloud managed to flip him over and hold him to the ground.

"Zack! Come on, snap out of it! Don't you remember me?"

Zack snarled in response and flung Cloud off of him. The other moved in to help but Cloud held up his hand.

"No, don't. Anyone else here might make it worse." Cloud then slowly walked toward Zack, who was still growling at him.

"Don't you remember? It's me, Cloud, remember?"

Zack's growling began to calm down a bit.

"Remember when we first met. Everyone thought we were related because of our hair. How about the time when you first introduced me to Sephiroth. I nearly fainted and you helped me not to. I know you're in there Zack."

Cloud was a foot away from him and Zack had stopped growling. The others took a deep breath as it seemed that Zack had calmed down. Suddenly, a small rock fell from out of nowhere. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Zack to start snarling again and punch Cloud to the ground again. Cloud's sword fell to the side and Zack lifted Cloud up with his hands and began to strangle him. Suddenly, Zack's eyes fell on the Buster Sword.

_My...sword?__ Seph...i...roth? Clo...ud?_

Zack suddenly let go of Cloud and began to scream. He held his head and crumbled onto the ground in agony. His wail grew louder and then stopped altogether. Cloud finished gasping for air and moved over to his friend.

"Zack?"

Zack looked up at Cloud. The pupils were now visible and his eyes shimmered in a green glow.

"Cloud?"


	7. The game's afoot

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Chap. 7

The group came back to the Shinra (Vincent's) Mansion. With them was an unconscious Zack, who had passed out after whispering Cloud's name. Zack was lying down on the couch while the others watched. Cloud sat across from him, watching intently. Barret folded his arms

"So what are we going to do with him?"

Cloud's gaze didn't waver, "What do you mean?"

"He's dangerous. Shouldn't we tie him up or something?"

"No."

Barret insisted, "We can't risk him going crazy and attacking again."

Cloud stood up, "No. We're not going to tie him up."

"But..."

"Zack is fine now. I was able to reach him."

Red XIII changed the subject, "Speaking of which, why did that rock decide to fall at that specific time."

"I...didn't notice." Tifa commented.

Vincent shifted his eye to the side and pointed his gun up into a dark corner of the mansion. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he cocked the trigger when a voice came out...

"Alright, alright. Don't shoot!"

A figure dropped out of the shadows. A lithe feminine form stood before them.

"Yuffie? What are you doing here?"

The ninja girl dusted herself off, "Well, I was getting bored at home so I came to visit. I saw where you were going and I followed."

"You could have just come up to us."

Yuffie put her hands on her hips, "What kind of person do you think I am? I am a ninja, you know. I can't just walk up to you and say hi."

"So you were watching us the whole time?"

"Yeah, well. I saw, but couldn't really hear anything." She looked over to the coach, "So, who is he?"

Tifa responded, "His name is Zack. He's an old friend of Cloud."

Yuffie scratched her head, "He sure doesn't look it."

Cloud glared, but said nothing so Red XIII decided to talk. "I wonder. What was he doing there to begin with? If Jenova was guarding him, then it must be for a reason."

Tifa agreed, "Yeah. What would Jenova want with him? And why is she back to begin with?"

Vincent spoke quietly, "Jenova is supposedly a disease. One that is hard to cure."

Cid scratched his head, "So what do we do?"

"Ughhhhh."

The moan came from behind them and every turned sharply to see Zack rising up, rubbing his head. Barret raised his gun-arm and armed it, just in case. Cloud stood beside him.

"Zack."

Zack opened his now Mako-green eyes.

"Cloud? Is that really you? Whoa!"

It was then that he noticed Barret pointing his weapon at him. Zack raised his arms.

"What's going on Cloud?"  
  


Cloud strode forward, "Do you....really remember who you are?"

Zack glared slightly, "I remember the fact that I'll kick your butt all over the place if you don't get that guy to stop pointing that gun at me."

Cloud nodded and smiled, "It's you alright." Barret lowered his gun-arm and Zack sat back down. It was then that he glanced at his arm and saw...

"What the hell?"

His arm was mutated and he traced it up to his shoulder, neck and his...

"Mirror."

Cloud looked down, but pointed to the side mirror on the wall. Zack stood up and walked up in front of it. His eyes widened and he backed away in shock. Cloud wanted to walk up to him, but hesitated. Zack regained his composure and turned to Cloud.

"Start talking."

___________

Elsewhere...

"The subject has been released prematurely."

"It doesn't matter. We have what we needed from him. They will come here now."

"Foolish humans. So easily predictable. And what about 'him'?"

"He will revive soon. When he does, the world will once again fear us."

_____________________

Who is he? What is the fearsome being that is going to be revived? If you don't know, then you should not read this anymore.


	8. Plans

Disclaimer: Same as before.

Author note: Sorry this took so long, but I had a little trouble organizing and thinking of what to put in. Anyway, I'm done now, so read away.

Chap. 8

"And that's pretty much it."

Zack sat down as Cloud told him the entire story. From the fire of Nibelhium years ago to his finding him in the reactor pod. (Basically, the whole FFVII story.) Needless to say, Zack was completely dumbfounded.

"I need to sit down."

"You are sitting."

Zack looked around and saw that he was indeed sitting down. "Oh." Looking on the ground, Zack muttered, "So you fought Sephiroth and defeated him. But I still have a few questions."

"Go on."

"Well for one, I understand about Sephiroth summoning Meteor to injure planet. But you didn't tell me how you were able to stop it?"

"We had to summon Holy, the ultimate white magic. Holy was able to stop it for awhile and the Lifestream came and did the rest."

"Interesting. How did you summon Holy?"

Cloud's face turned sad briefly, and then suddenly turned to shock. Zack looked at him questionability. "Cloud, what is it?"

Cloud looked back at Zack, "A…special friend gave up her life to summon it."

"Ohh. I'm sorry."

"Anyway, by doing so, she was able to stop Meteor and save the Planet."

"Okay. So Meteor was stopped, Sephiroth was destroyed and the Planet was saved. But you just found out that Jenova may still be alive and Hojo as well. So what now?"

Red XIII spoke, "Now we have to stop them again. No telling what those two are planning on doing."

"Yes. We have to move quickly." Tifa agreed

Yuffie sighed, "Move where? Where should we start?"

Cloud answered, "I know where. The Northern Crater."

Barret grumbled, "Not again. I hate that place."

"It's our best bet. That was the last place where she was solid."

Cid shook his head, "That would be a good idea, but there's one problem. The Highwind is in still in need of repairs. We can't fly there."

"Then we'll have to go on foot."

"No. We barely made it last time. As I'm not freezing my @$$ off again!" Barret yelled.

Tifa nodded in agreement, "He's right. We only made it because that guy found us and even then, we still had to climb up. That wasn't easy either."

"Okay, so how are we going to get there?"

"Aren't there any other airships?" Zack asked

Cid shrugged, "None strong enough to weather the winds around the crater. Unless..."

Cloud looked at him and instantly jumped up, "Oh no. Not the Tiny Bronco."

"Why not? And stop calling it tiny! It's not the Tiny Bronco anymore!" Cid countered.

Cid had remodeled the Tiny Bronco. Originally, he repaired it so that it could fly again, but while he did, he also changed it. The plane was now twice the size it was before and equipped with high-level boosters similar to the Highwind's. Also, due to its size, it is capable of going high speeds, but the problem is that if the boosters are left on too long, they would overheat and without a coolant system, they would explode. Cloud and Cid found that out on their test run...the hard way.

"We are not using that flying deathtrap!"

"Come on. I told you I fixed the problem, so don't worry."

Vincent looked up from his cup of tea, "We don't have a choice."

Cloud turned to him abruptly and then back to Cid, "Fine. But don't blame me if we explode."

Barret stood up, "Now that that's settled, we should get some sleep."

Later that night...

Cloud awoke to a small sound in the living room area. Looking down, he saw Zack standing outside, staring in the sky.

"Zack?"

"I don't think the stars shine like this back home."

Cloud stood next to him, "I'm sorry."  
  
"Sorry for what?"

"For not finding you sooner."

"Don't sweat it. You found me, right? It doesn't matter how, just that you did."

"There's something else. The woman who gave up her life to save Planet...it was..."

"I know. It was Aeris."

"How did you know?"

"I'm not sure. While I was in that pod, I saw flashes, images. I saw her stabbed by a sword. But it's strange. I don't feel like she's gone. It's like she's still alive, but...not. Does that sound strange?"

"Not at all. I've felt the same way."

They stayed quiet for awhile, just looking up at the stars.

"So how about you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Anyone special in your life?"

"Umm. Well..."

"Now if memory serves me right, you had the hots for that girl Tifa."

Cloud started blushing and Zack laughed, "Correction. **Still** have the hots for her."

Cloud scratched his head, "I don't know."

Zack looked sadly at his friend, "Well, that's your choice. But she won't be around for you forever." Changing the subject, "Well, we better get some rest. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." Cloud nodded and began to walk back in, but stopped and turned back.

"I guess I should give this back to you." He pulled out the Buster sword and held it to him. Zack held it briefly and gave it back to him.

"Nah. It looks better on you."

Cloud gave a questioning look, but put the sword away and walked inside. Zack stood out for a little longer and then began to go inside. Suddenly, he gripped his arm in pain.

_Guuuuhhhh__.__ What was that?_

Shaking it off, he went inside, unaware that behind him, a ghastly figure stood watching him before disappearing, whispering only one name.

_"Zack."___

For those expecting an Aeris/Sephiroth or a Cloud/Aeris fic, sorry, but there's a good reason for it. Put simply, Zack was there first! But don't worry. I have something special planned for the one winged angel. Sort of.


	9. Rough landing

Disclaimer: Same as before  
  
  
  
Chap. 9  
  
The group arrived in Rocket town the next day. As they entered, Zack was wearing a dark hood in order to hide his appearance. As they came out of the buggy, he whispered to Cloud, "Now the roles have reversed. Now I'm the one covering my head."  
  
Cloud nervously laughed and then noted, "You don't have a weapon."  
  
"No problem. I'll pick up something as we gather supplies."  
  
Cloud nodded, but Zack could see a little guilt in his friend's eyes.  
  
"Don't worry about it."  
  
Meanwhile, Cid walked up to the back of his house where the rocket used to be. Now there was the Bronco, no longer small and lightweight, but a medium sized jet equipped with two huge booster engines.  
  
"Shera, is the Bronco ready?"  
  
Shera came out of the plane and looked to him, "Yes. I've finished checking over the coolant system and its okay. Also, the escape pod is also set."  
  
"Alright, ready her for take-off!"  
  
Shera gasped, "Now? But it hasn't been field tested yet."  
  
"We don't have time for a field test, Shera. It's an emergency, so get it started."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Cloud gave Cid a nervous glance to which he responded, "It'll work. Trust me."  
  
After everybody bought a few supplies, they seated themselves inside the Bronco.  
  
"Ahh, the smell of new. Let's get this show on the road."  
  
Everyone buckled themselves inside. Cid jumped in the cockpit seat and grabbed the controls, "Alright everyone, here we go!"  
  
The Bronco's booster engines came to life and the plane began to move down the runaway. It picked up speed and in moments was airborne at high speed.  
  
"Next stop, the Northern Crater." Looking over to Cloud, "I told ya I got it working."  
  
The Bronco flew swiftly toward the north, heading for the Northern Crater. It was as they remembered it. A massive hole in the Planet that seemed to have no real bottom to it. An endless pit.  
  
"Alright, I'm taking her down. Hang on; this might be a little rough."  
  
The Bronco began to circle and lower down to the inner edge of the crater when suddenly, a flash of light appeared, followed by a low rumbling.  
  
"Cid, what's wrong?"  
  
"What the hell...? The engine has been shot."  
  
Outside, the left engine was blown open and smoke was pouring out.  
  
"Alright. I'm going to set her down. Get to the back."  
  
Everyone ran to the back of the plane. There, a chamber door opened.  
  
"Get inside now!"  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"Don't worry about it. Now go!"  
  
Everyone jumped inside as Cid tried to soften the plane's landing. When he gotten low enough, he quickly ran into the chamber with them and closed it. The pod disconnected and dropped down to the ground while the plane hit the ground. The rocky terrain shredded the plane apart, but the pod was more durable as it rolled until it stopped. After awhile, everyone jumped out, slightly dazed.  
  
"Ugghh...Is everybody alright?"  
  
Barret sat up, "I'm fine. 'Cept for this damn headache."  
  
Tifa dusted herself off, "I'm okay."  
  
Red XIII shook his head, "That was some trip."  
  
Yuffie was also dusting herself off, "You bet."  
  
Vincent lent himself on the side, "It seems like everyone is okay.  
  
Zack shook his head, "Speak for yourself. I think I lost half my lunch in there."  
  
Cloud looked around, "Cid? Hey, where's Cid?"  
  
Cid was nowhere to be seen. Red XIII started sniffing the air, "I smell him. That way."  
  
The group looked over to the side. There, Cid was standing in front of the wrecked Bronco.  
  
"Say it."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Go ahead Cloud, you can say it."  
  
Cloud looked at him and put his hand on his shoulder, "Forget it. Besides, it got us here in one piece. For a pilot, that just means it was a good plane. And at least the escape pod worked"  
  
Cid turned to him and gave a small smile, "Yeah, you're right. Well what are you waiting for? Let get going already!"  
  
"Right."  
  
The group left the crash site and head into the dark caverns of the crater. This place always gave them the creeps. As they ventured further down...  
  
"Uggggh."  
  
Zack clutched his chest and knelt down. The others stopped and went to him. Cloud helped his friend up, "Hey man, are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, no problem." Zack stood up, "We should keep going."  
  
Cloud was worried about his friend, but moved on anyway. They eventually reached the cavern that splits up into two.  
  
Cid scratched his head, "Okay, I remember this. Should we split up again?"  
  
Vincent answered, "No point. They both lead to the same place."  
  
"Too bad you won't get there."  
  
Everyone looked up to see a dark figure jump down and face them. The creature had a solid body with tentacle flailing out of its back and arms. But its face, its face was familiar.  
  
"Hojo?"  
  
The creature laughed, "Yes. Do you like the new body? A gift, courtesy of Jenova. I see you fools have decided to come after all." His eyes fall on Zack, "And you brought extra company, I see."  
  
Zack glared at him, "You demented freak. We're not going to let you go along with this."  
  
Hojo chuckled, "As interesting as that may be to see, I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to." A loud roar echoed in the cavern as Hojo began to back away. "However, I'm sure my friend here can entertain you."  
  
A giant form walked out of the mouth of another cave and glared at the group. Everyone backed away as the monster roared at them.  
  
Aw, man. A ruby dragon!" ______________  
  
AN: I have recently acquired Kingdom Hearts and have noticed a lot of people making fanfic based on that. So I figure I would try a bit by incorporating a part of it in the fic. You'll understand when I get to it. Oh and sorry for the delay. 


	10. Awakenings

Disclaimer: The same  
  
  
  
Chap. 10  
  


  
The dragon roared again before attacking. Its huge size belittled its swift speed as it slammed its claw at Yuffie.  
  
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"  
  


"Yuffie!"

They returned their attention back to the monster and Barret opened fired. But the bullets had no effect against its armored scales and it slashed out at him. Barret blocked the slash, but was still knocked aside. Cloud pulled out his Buster Sword and Zack pulled out a katana. The two of them rushed at it and it swatted out its tail. They jumped over it, but it instantly swatted back and knocked them down. It moved over to them when a gunshot caught its attention. Vincent was firing rounds at it and getting its attention. The dragon roared and charged at him, unaware that Red XIII and Tifa who was riding on his back were coming up behind it. Tifa jumped off and Red XIII charged into a ball. He hit the dragon with great force, causing it to slide of to the side while Tifa grabbed its neck and began to repeatedly punch it. The dragon roared and kept swinging its head left and right. Cid moved up to make the kill, but the dragon slung its neck again, managing to throw Tifa off and sending her into him. The two of them hit the ground as the creature made its way to them. Suddenly, Zack leapt into the air, sword in hand and he struck down. To his disbelief, the sword snapped in two and did nothing to it. Zack backed away and the monster began to come at him now. Suddenly Vincent jumped in the way.  
  
"Stand back."  
  
A red flash appeared and Vincent transformed into his Galian Beast form. He roared as he charged at the dragon in a berserker fury. The dragon screamed as it was getting injured and backed away. Vincent continue to attack, but he didn't notice the dragon's throat glow in red. A stream of fire came out, engulfing Vincent. The fire stopped and Vincent was on the ground unconscious and in human form. The dragon turned back to Zack and rushed to him. Suddenly Red XIII came up to him with the Buster Sword in his mouth.  
  
"Take it."  
  
Zack immediately grabbed the weapon and charged at the dragon. The dragon snapped at him, but Zack rolled to the side and raised the massive weapon over his head.  
  
"Braver Strike!"  
  
Zack struck down hard on the dragon and the creature's head severed off and lay limp on the ground. As he did, Cloud saw the entire event and nodded.  
  
Later...  
  
"So, Hojo is still alive." Vincent said darkly.  
  
"Yeah. That means Jenova is here as well."  
  
"We still have to stop them."  
  
"Right, let's go."  
  
"Won't you need this, Cloud?"  
  
"No, you can use it better than I can. Don't worry, I can still fight. I learned a thing or two from Tifa."  
  
"Yeah, I'll bet."  
  
Cloud turned a quick shade of red and they all went down the cave Hojo had disappeared into. They eventually found themselves in a large cavern. Mechanical equipment was lined up along the walls. Below, a pit of Lifestream bubbled below. And before them was a large chamber of Mako in front of them. A human figure was inside it, but unrecognizable at the distance they were in.  
  
"Amazing, isn't it?"  
  
Hojo reappeared out of the shadows. "It is truly a thing of beauty. It's only a pity you ingrates can't understand."  
  
"What are you up to, Hojo?" Zack cried.  
  
"Oh, you again? You just truly don't know when to die, do you? You've already served your purpose."  
  
"W...what purpose?"  
  
Hojo crackled, "Your body was the only other body than managed to incorporate the Jenova cells to your will. Its strength was needed for the resurrection."  
  
Cloud yelled out, "Jenova?"  
  
Hojo shook his head, "No, you foolish failure. Jenova is already alive. But she wanted to bring him back as well." He pointed to the chamber and Cloud knew instantly who he was talking about.  
  
"Sephiroth."  
  


"Yes. My son, Sephiroth. And you are too late! Hahahahahaha!!!!" At that very moment, the cavern began to shake and tremble. Everyone stumbled to the ground and saw as the chamber cracked open, Mako spewing out of it. The cracks increased and then the chamber shattered altogether. The figure that was in it now slumped to the ground on his knees, his back toward them. As everyone looked, the figure slowly began to rise. Platinum white hair frayed his back as he stood. He then arched his arm to the side and a slit opened on his back and out shot a single wing, black feathers arched all over it.  
  
"Sephiroth."  
  
Sephiroth turned to them, an eerie smile on his face as he lashed his arm out. The ground shook more and suddenly falls away. Cloud, Zack and the others fell all straight into the Lifestream below. The last thing Cloud remembered was seeing Sephiroth looked down at his, his face emotionless.  
  
Then everything went dark...  
  
_Darkness...  
  
This comes to me a lot....  
  
I used to be afraid....  
  
But now....  
  
Now you wait, right?  
  
Huh?  
  
Hehe. You can wake up now.  
  
I...don't understand.  
  
Welcome...to the Promised Land_.  
  
Cloud opens his eyes and sees  everything in light. Yet it does not blind him in any way. A figure materializes out of the light, a woman.  
  
"Aeris?"  
  


"We meet again, Cloud."  
  
I...I don't....  
  
"Yes you do. Remember before."  
  
"......Yes. It was your hand I saw."  
  
"Yes. I wanted you to know that I am alright."  
  
"But....Sephiroth....he....killed you."  
  
"Yes, but as an Ancient, I didn't die off as easily. And as a Guardian, I can feel the trouble above. Jenova has returned."  
  
It wasn't a question; it was a statement  
  
"Yes. And they brought back Sephiroth."  
  
"They did?" He half expected her to cringe at the sound of that, but remarkably she smiled.  
  
"Then there is hope."  
  
"Huh? I don't understand."  
  
"I do not fully understand it either, but it is a feeling. Sephiroth may be the key to forever stop Jenova."  
  
"?"  
  
Aeris giggled, "Hehe. I missed that face. The look of confusion on your face is always funny."  
  
Cloud frowned, but smiled as well.  
  
"You should return. The others will need your help."  
  
"But what about you?"

  
"Don't worry. I haven't left you alone yet."  
  
The light suddenly grew brighter to the point were Cloud did have to cover his eyes.  
  
_Cloud.__  
  
Aeris?  
  
Cloud, wake up.  
  
No, Tifa._  
  
Cloud opened his eyes again to find everyone on a rocky beach. Sitting up, he grasped his head, "What happened?"  
  
Tifa pointed to the left. In the water, a fountain of Lifestream poured out onto the surface. They had been beached on the shores of the continent way outside of the crater.  
  
"We were shot out of the Lifestream. It's a miracle we're alive."  
  
"Aeris. I saw Aeris...in the Promised Land."  
  
Tifa looked at him, "Cloud, what are you talking about?"  
  
"She told me....that she hasn't left me yet. That Sephiroth was the key. But I didn't understand."  
  
Tifa looked sadly at him; _He really can't let her go._ "Cloud. Aeris is....."  
  
Suddenly the Lifesteam began to bubble out again. Everyone backed away as it intensified. It suddenly burst out high into air like a fountain. The green liquid then began to settle down and as it did, a figure came revealed. The Lifestream stopped altogether, revealing a lithe young woman, a woman long thought to be dead.  
  
"Hello everyone."


	11. Return

Disclaimer: The same

Chap. 11

Everyone stood up to look at the revived young flower girl, all with stunned expressions on their faces.

"Aeris? Is that...really you?" Yuffie asked.

"Of course. You guys act as though you've seen a ghost." she giggled.

Ironacally, this gained a laugh from Barret, who came up to her, "Welcome back, Aeris."

Cid nodded in agreement, "Yeah, welcome back."

"Diddo here, Aeris. Welcome back from...wherever you came from" said Yuffie.

"We missed you." came from Red XIII.

Vincent only nodded.

Tifa walked up to Aeris and gave her a hug, which for some reason surprised Tifa, "It's good to see you again."

Aeris returned the hug, "Thank you all." She glanced over to Cloud and Zack, who strangely enough, didn't say a word. Zack had his dark hood on over his face. _This must be rough for them. I'll talk with them later._

It was Red XIII who decided to bring this moment to an end, "I assume that you are aware of our current situation."

The smiling faces disappeared and Aeris nodded, "Yes, I know. Jenova is still alive."

Barret spoke next, "Yeah. And to make it worse, that psycho Hojo is back as well. And so is Sephiroth."

"Yes. That is why I returned. The Planet...it told me that Sephiroth was the key to stopping all of this."

"How?"

The response came from Zack and it surprised Aeris somewhat.

"I don't know how? Or even why? All I know is that is what the Planet told me. It's strange, but that's what it is."

Red XIII spoke again, "Well, whatever it is, we should move fast. We can't leave those three to themselves for long."

"Yes. They plan to injure the Planet the same way as before."

"How?" Cid's eyes then widened, "They aren't going to summon Meteor again, are they?"

Aeris shook her head, "No, they can't. Such powers can't be summoned at will. It is the same for Holy."

Vincent interjected, "Then they will seek another way."

"Yes."

"Then we should go back and stop them right now before they can do anything." said Yuffie

Tifa looked at her, "Are you kidding? We would be dealing with Jenova and Hojo, not to mention Sephiroth. And it's a safe bet that the place is probably crawling with monsters again. We need a plan for this."

They all then looked at Cloud, who had been silent throughout the exchange. His eyes were downcast.

"Cloud."

Cloud's head rose slightly, "I'm...not sure. This is still a little hard to grasp."

Tifa looked at him. _What is? Sephiroth's return...or Aeris's?_

Cid shrugged, "Well, he's got a point. We can't do anything here. We should head to the nearest inn and talk about it after we get settled. We don't have the Bronco anymore, so we'll have to hope the Highwind has been repaired."

"The Highwind?" Aeris asked.

"Yep, my plane. The only one of its kind. I guess you haven't seen it yet."

Barret stood up, "Well we better go. It's starting to cold out here and you know how I don't like the cold."

The group stood up and began to walk when they heard a low screech. The grass seemed to come alive and form into a large object. A large object...with teeth!

"Oh no! A Marlboro!"

The plant monster licked its slimy lips and began to suck in air, ready to do its Bad Breath attack. Suddenly, a glow formed in Aeris's hands and a rod came out. Aeris glowed in red.

"Seal Evil!"

Pointing her rod at the Marlboro, the monster suddenly froze, unable to move. Zack took advantage of it and set the Buster sword.

"Saber Rush!"

Zack rushed at the frozen monster and slashed right through it, Odin style. The Marlboro was rendered in two and dissipated. Zack spun the sword around and placed it on his back. He then looked at Aeris and gave her a small smile, but it quickly disappeared.

"We should go now."

(AN: Yeah I know it's short. That's why you go to the next chapter.)


	12. Mixed emotions

Disclaimer: You know the drill

Chap. 12

The group began to march and headed for the nearest inn. Fortunately, it wasn't too far and they were able to get a ride on some wild chocobos they caught.  They all managed to ride to a hotel and found some rooms for them. Cid decided to call Reeve on the PHS to see if the Highwind had been repaired yet. While he did, everyone was around the town, getting some supplies. Aeris decided to walk out on her own, a constant smile on her face. _It feels so strange to be back._ While she walked, she saw Cloud sitting on a rock on the outskirts of the town. Quietly, she crept up to him and called him.

"Cloud."

Cloud turned sharply to face her and she could she a deep sadness in his eyes.

"Cloud, what is it? You haven't spoken to me since I came back."

"It's just....just....I'm sorry Aeris. Sorry for not being able to protect you."

Aeris sat down next to him, "You shouldn't beat yourself like this, Cloud. It wasn't your fault. It was necessary."

Cloud straightened up a bit, "But still, I could have done something. If only I was stronger...."

Aeris faced him and held his arms, "Cloud, don't do this. You did what you had to do and I did the same. We have to move on."

Cloud looked into her eyes, "Thank you. And welcome back."

Unbeknownst to them, Tifa was watching the exchange from afar. _So that it. That's his choice._ A single tear ran down her face as she moved away. But she happened to bump into Vincent, who had just come back from getting ammo for his rifle.

"Oh, Tifa. Sorry about...what's wrong?"

Tifa looked at the dark haired man and suddenly held on to him and burst into tears. Vincent was surprised, but nevertheless he put his arm around her as she cried.

"It's alright, Tifa. It's alright." _What could have happened to her?_ His question was quickly answered when he saw Cloud with Aeris. Vincent narrowed his eyes. _Hmm.__ I'm going to have to have a talk with him._

Meanwhile, Cloud had approached the hotel when he glanced over and saw Tifa with Vincent. _Huh? She's...with Vincent? I guess... I really wasn't that strong...after all._ He entered the hotel a little too quickly, leaving Aeris behind. Aeris looked shocked as he went to his room. _What just happened?_ She then followed where he had looked before and saw the same thing. _Oh, no. What have I done?_

__

An hour later, the group had gathering in a large room waiting for Zack and Cid to show up. He entered the room; hood still draped over his head and sat down.

"This seems like deja vu, you know?" Barret commented.

Red XIII agreed, "Yes, it does."

Cid then entered the room, "Good news guys. The Highwind is set and ready. They're bringing it here as we speak."

Yuffie cringed a bit, "That's good news?"

Cid laughed, "It is for those who don't have motion sickness, ha!"

"That's not funny."

Red XIII cleared his throat, "We should get started on what our move is."

Cloud nodded, "Right. Aeris said that Sephiroth was the key to stopping this. We have to figure out how."

Aeris nodded, "I've been doing some thinking. We have to find a link to Sephiroth."

"Yes, but how? The only thing he's ever been linked to was Jenova."

"Is there nothing else? No one in the former Shin-Ra even?"

Zack interjected, "No. He broke all ties with Shin-Ra. In fact, I'm still surprised he's aligned with Hojo. He never liked him."

"Hojo had injected himself with Jenova cells, so Sephiroth would most likely see him as an ally until his use is up. Not to mention the fact that he is Sephiroth's father."

Aeris look in surprise, "Sephiroth's...father? But wasn't Sephiroth conceived from Jenova?"

"No, he was conceived in Prof. Hojo's Soldier experiments. While he was in the womb, he was injected with Jenova cells by Hojo. That is why he is so powerful."

"If what you say is true, then what about his mother?"

"She died." The response came from Vincent.

"She did? But I never sensed her presence in the Lifestream."

"Huh?"

"Well, when a person returns to the Planet, their singular energy could be felt within the stream. Even if the energy was reborn, the sense of where that energy came from could still be felt. If I had felt her, then I would have known about Sephiroth being her son."

"She never joined the Lifestream. During the experiment, she too was injected with Jenova cells. The cells didn't allow her to die." Vincent responded

"So she lives?"

"In a sense, yes and no. Her body exists in a cavern underneath a waterfall, but her mind is still alive."

"Then there is hope. If I could remove the cells from her body, maybe she could help us."

"No!"

Vincent again, but this time he yelled, something he doesn't normally do.

"She's been through enough. I don't to subject her to any more pain, much less having to confront her own son and learn of what he did. Let her rest."

"Vincent, we understand. But with Jenova alive, she can't rest. And without her help, we may lose and she will suffer more. Is that what you want?"

".......No."

"Then you agree that we should go to her?"

"Yes. But before you do anything, I want to talk to her first."

"Of course."

"Okay, so even if we do get Sephiroth mom, what then?" Barret blurted, "I don't think Sephiroth will agree to a mother and son picnic.

"I don't know, but it's all we have right now."

"Yes. And we have little time to figure out what they plan to do."

________

 Northern Crater...

"There are two left, still intact. Ultima and Sapphire. Ultima resides near Cosmo Canyon while Sapphire lies at the bottom of the sea at Junon.

Good. We could use both of them, but only one is necessary. I trust you can deal with them.

Yes Jenova.

Ironic. These creatures were born from the planet itself. Now they will be the instrument of its destruction and our ascension.

Yes, mother.

AN: Haha! Finally made this chapter. Sorry about the long delays.


	13. Revival

Disclaimer: Do I really…?

Chapter 13

The group stayed in the hotel until the Highwind arrived. Cid was finally glad that his ship was finally fixed and ready to fly again. Aeris gasped in amazement at the majestic ship and Cid smiled in approval.

"This is it, young lady. The Highwind. The best thing there is in the sky."

"It's incredible."

Aeris began to explore the ship and was eventually leaded to the bridge where...

"Cait Sith!"

The cat-and-moogle pair turned at the sound of the voice.

"Aeris? You really are alive?"

Aeris smiles at him and Cait Sith jumps around.

"Oh, wow. I really missed you!"

Barret walks onto the bridge, "Hey, so it back to the cat suit, eh?"

Cait Sith nods, "I figured it would be appropriate. Now, where do we go?"

"We'll have to go to Junon and use the submarine. That's the only way to get to the falls."

Cid walked in, "Alright, Junon, it is." He yelled at his crew, "Well what are you waiting for? Let's get going!"

The crew quickly saluted and got into their stations. The massive airship slowly lifted off of the ground and suddenly shot through the air. Its destination, Junon.

Oh, Aeris. If ya want, you can go to the lower deck, but be careful."

Aeris smiled to him and nodded, "Okay." When she left, Cid though to himself, _Nice to have a smiling face around for a change._

Aeris walked down the corridor and into the lower deck. She leaned on the rail as they swooped through the sky. Unknown to her, a certain dark cloaked figure was watching her.

"Oh, Aeris."

Flashback...

_"Hey, Zack.__ What's wrong?"_

_"I have to go. I'm being sent out on another mission."_

_"Oh. Well, when will you be back?"_

_"I'm not sure. And frankly, I'm getting tired of it. But a friend of mine is going as well and he's a little...nervous. Especially with Sephiroth being there and all. I'm just helping him out a bit."_

_"I see."_

_"Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it."_

_"Zack.__ I...I have a bad feeling about this."_

_Zack turned to her. He knew she was...different from most people. He didn't know how, but he knew she was._

_"How about this.__ I'll make this my last mission. Then I'll spend my time with you."_

_"I...I couldn't ask you to do something like that. I know how you are. You're the adventurous type. You'll be bored in minutes." She gave a slight giggle._

_"Hey, that's not funny. I guess you do have a point. I could work as a mercenary. That way, I wouldn't have to be called for work. Hey, I could make my own hours!"_

_Aeris__ smiled and Zack took in into account, "See, now that's the smile that will bring me back." He held her close and gave her a tight hug, "I'll see ya later, okay?"_

_"Okay."_

End Flashback

Zack looked at his right hand, now clawed and mutated. Aeris. I should have listened to you. _Instead, I acted so recklessly and the mission turned into a living nightmare._ The trip there, the fire, Sephiroth beating him, Hojo's experiments on him and Cloud, even when they had escaped and Zack was shot. But he didn't die. Rather Hojo had found another use for him. _A nightmare that continues on today._ _I should have listened to you._

The Highwind finally reached its destination and settled down. Everyone went to the Junon docks and boarded the submarine. As it dove down, everyone seemed to notice that Vincent was a little nervous, which was hard to see for a guy like him.

"Are you okay?" Tifa asked him

"No." He turned his head, "When I last saw her, I told her that Sephiroth was dead. But I had lied to her and now I have to go back and tell her that he returned and we want her help to kill him." He suddenly snapped, "How do you think I feel!"

Tifa backed away a little, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." She began to walk away.

"Wait. I'm sorry for snapping at you."

She turned back to him, "Its okay. I understand."

She gently squeezed his shoulder and he nodded to her. The sub finally re-surfaced and reached the waterfall. It was decided that only Vincent, Cloud, and Aeris should go in.

"Wait."

Vincent stuck out his hand.

"Let me go in first, alone."

Aeris looked at Cloud and he nodded and Vincent disappeared behind the water. Cloud and Aeris waited and for a long while, Vincent didn't show. Then after a few more minute, his head emerged from the fall.

"You can come now."

Cloud and Aeris followed him in. Underneath the fall was a tunnel that leads to an extremely large cave. At the far end, a feminine figure was etched in the stone, giving a ghastly visage. As they moved closer, the figure glowed and a shadowy figure of a woman emerged before them.

_"So....my son lives."_

"Yes. We need your help."

_"You want me to help you kill my son?"_

"Cloud looked down, "I don't know. All I know is that he has to be stopped somehow. And we believe that you can reach him."

_"Is Hojo with him?"_

".....Yes."

_"Then I will accompany you. But I do not know what help I may be here like this. In between life and death."_

Aeris stepped forward, "I think I can help you there. I'm going to try something. Are you ready?"

_"Yes."___

Aeris took out her rod and began to spiral it around. A green glow emanated around Aeris and shimmered to Lucrecia. She began to glow as well and the light grew brighter. After awhile, Vincent and Cloud had to cover their eyes and the light then began to dim. They both looked up to see Aeris leaning on her staff, facing a now alive Lucrecia.

"I'm...alive?" She stepped forward and stumbled to the ground, but Vincent instantly went over and caught her before she fell. He looked at her and gazed into her eyes. They were an aquamarine blue, deep and mystifying.

"I'm alive."

Cloud went over to Aeris, "What did you do?"

Aeris managed to get most of her breath back, "I've given her body back by restoring her original form. It's the same as what brought me back."

A low growl was suddenly heard. "What is that?"

Aeris answered, "I was afraid this might happen. Now without Lucrecia there, the Jenova cells are taking a life of their own." As she spoke, a monster grew out of the ground. It looked like one of the goblins on Goblin Island, but fifty times bigger and nastier. The creature roared and swung at them, but both of them jumped back. Vincent grabbed his rifle and called Aeris.

"Take care of her."

Aeris nodded and Vincent jumped into the fight. Spinning the rifle, he fired, injuring the monster and getting him mad. Cloud took advantage and jumped in to attack, but the monster swung at him and he fell down. Vincent jumped up and fired several more rounds, but the beast only got angrier. It lashed out and hit Vincent, knocking his gun away from him. As he struggled to get up, the monster was about to come down on him. 

"Fire3!"

Cloud shot his arms forward and a missive fire explosion hit the beast. It roared in pain and lashed out its tail. Cloud rolled, charged, and hit the monster with a kick-punch combination. But the tail grabbed Cloud and lifted him upward. Vincent took note of the fight. _It doesn't like fire. Okay._

Vincent stood up and called upon the highest materia magic. Several orbs with symbols around him appeared and Vincent shot his hands out.

"Hell Fire!"

Before him, the ground suddenly exploded and out jumped the fire demon, Ifrit. Ifrit growled and fire escaped his mouth. Summoning his energy around him, Ifrit rushed at the monster and brought with him a wave of fire. The wave pummels the monster and it dropped Cloud. Vincent grabbed his rifle and aimed once again. Saying nothing, he fired the lethal shot and the monster roared in pain and fell down. It faded away and Vincent spun his rifle around and hooked it to his belt.

"Let's get out of here."

AN: That was difficult. But as I write this, a new idea has sprung into my head. What is it? Well, you'll just have to wait and see. Oh, I think you'll love it though.


	14. Secrets

Disclaimer: Same old, same old…

Chap. 14

The four returned to the submarine and dived back into the water. As it moved through the watery depths...

"Look out!"

Ahead of them, a massive piece of metal fell before them. Cloud maneuvered the sub just barely and they were able to avoid the debris. The metal slowly hit the sea floor and Cid looked at it.

"Hey, that's..."

The debris was long and cylinder-shaped.

"That was the Junon cannon!"

Looking up through the water, they could see more debris sinking in the water. The submarine dodged and moved away from the falling metal and finally surfaced.

"What the...?"

The mechanical town of Junon was completely annihilated. Smoke was seen rising above it and flames were all over the place. Without delay, the sub sped forward and docked in one of the remaining bays. Everyone spread out in search for survivors. Cloud happened to find an old man, injured on the ground. He bent over and held him up.

"What happened here?"

"It....was.....a.....giant monster. Came....out of....the water." He fainted.

Cloud carried the elder man into a clearing and searched around for other survivors. By the time he and the others were done, there were few survivors, many of them severely injured.

"What could have done this?"

"Whatever it was, it must have been huge as well as powerful."

"We have to find it, before it hurts anyone else."

Aeris looked around at the burnt town, "But we can't just leave these people like this."

Barret nodded, "I got an idea. Half of us will stay here and the rest can go to the Highwind."

Cid lit his cigarette, "So who will go in the Highwind?"

Barret folded his arms, "Well, since it was my idea, I'll go."

"Me too." Cid said. "Gotta have a good pilot at the helm."

"I'm in." Vincent said, and then gave a brief glance at Lucrecia, "They may need my help."

"I'll go too." came from Cait Sith.

"Hey, Cloud. Are you coming too?"

"No, I think I'll stay here. Zack, you can go with them."

"Well, I guess so. Heck, why not?"

"I'll go. That's alright, isn't it?" Tifa said. She was actually hoping that Cloud would ask her to stay.

"Sure. It's fine."

Vincent shook his head slightly, _Cloud, you have a lot to learn about women._

"Then it's settled. So let's get going."

Barret, Cid, Tifa, Zack, Cait Sith and Vincent boarded the Highwind and took off while Cloud, Aeris, Lucrecia, Yuffie, and Red XIII remained behind to look for survivors. Night was coming over as they found the remaining survivors. Aeris stayed with the injuried, curing them as best as she could. Lucrecia joined her in helping them. As they did, Lucrecia looked at Cloud and noticed his shimmering eyes. She left Aeris briefly to talk to him.

"Hello Cloud."

"Hi."

"Heh. Aeris is right. You aren't big on talking, are you?"

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I just came to ask about your eyes."

"My eyes?"

"They are glowing with Mako. I was curious as to why."

"Well, Hojo kidnapped me and Zack and did all kinds of experiments on us with Jenova cells. Zack managed to escape and rescue me too, but at the time my mind was distorted."

"Is that way your eyes are glowing, because of the Jenova cells?"

"Mostly, but I'm not sure. I believe that my eyes were always like that somewhat. My mother said my eyes glowed in the dark at times, but I always thought she was joking."

_His mother..._"What about your father?"

"I never knew my father. Mom told me that he died before I was born."

_Hmm. It couldn't be...._"Who was your mother? What was her name?"

"I believe it was Bethany. Yeah, that's it."

Lucrecia suddenly turned pale. _Bethany__. Then that means......Cloud is....._

"Lucrecia, are you alright?"

Lucrecia blinked and regained her composure, "Yes, I'm alright. Just lost in thought." She continued, "Is...she...?"

Cloud looked away, "Yes. She was killed...when Sephiroth burned Nibelihium."

Now it was her turn to look away, "Oh. I'm so sorry. In a way, this is my entire fault."

Cloud looked at her, "No it's not. If anything, you suffered the most."

Lucrecia looked at his eyes again. _I can't believe I didn't see it earlier. His eyes are the same as his._ At that time, Cloud's PHS rang and he answered.

"Yeah."

"Cloud, you are not going to believe it."

"Did you find the monster?"

"Oh, we found it alright."

"And?"

"Cloud. It's back. Weapon is back."


	15. Battle with Weapon

Disclaimer: You already know so no use writing it, right?

Chap. 15

While Cloud and Lucrecia spoke, Aeris, Yuffie, and Red XIII sat around a fire nearby. They had finished helping the people and tending the wounded.

"You know, this is almost like the time when we all sat around the campfire at Cosmo Canyon.

"Yeah. And just like last time, I have a bad feeling about what's to come." Red XIII muttered.

"You are such a downer sometimes, Red." She looked into the sky. "You have to be positive."

Aeris nodded, "She's right. You can't get through things in life if you always doing that."

Red XIII stared into the fire, "Perhaps."

Yuffie then turned to Red XIII and he instantly turned his head away. Huh? That was strange. Was he...staring at me?

At that moment, Cloud and Lucrecia came running toward them.

"We have a problem."

Cloud went on to tell them about the Highwind's discovery.

"Weapon? But how?"

I don't know. From what they told me, it was the same Weapon whose head got blown off by the Junon cannon."

Yuffie whistled, "Talk about revenge."

"There's also another problem. It's heading for Costa Del Sol. And I'm guessing it's not to say hello."

A few minutes later, the Highwind came to pick them up. Cait Sith stayed behind to help with the damaged Junon while the others flew to Costa De Sol, Weapon's next target. Everyone went to talk in the conference room on the Highwind.

"So what's the plan?" Cid asked from the corner.

We have to stop Weapon. That simple."

Is it? This isn't just any monster we're dealing with. It's a @#$%&*$ Weapon!" Barret exclaimed.

Don't worry. We've defeated the Weapons before and we'll do it again."

Red XIII commented, "Do you think this has anything to do with our current situation with Jenova."

Vincent nodded, "No doubt about it."

"But what?"

"We'll have to worry about that later. Right now, we must stop Weapon before it reaches Costa De Sol."

"He's right. Many innocent people's lives are at stake." Zack then asked, "Any ideas?"

Cait Sith answered, "Well, from what we know about this Weapon, it attacks only in the water. The cannon was able to destroy it because it came up to the surface."

"That suggests that it is weaker on land and shallow water." Lucrecia agreed.

Tifa nodded, "Okay, so we have to fight it on land. But how do we get it on land?"

Zack answered, "We'll have to wait until it starts to surface. The best we can do is to wait for it to get in shallow water. It'll be close, but I think we could pull it off."

Vincent nodded solemnly, "We don't have much choice."

The intercom came on, "Weapon located. Moving in to battle position."

"Let's go."

Everyone left the conference room and headed for the deck. Zack pulled Cloud back briefly.

"Is something wrong? You haven't said more than two words the entire time."

No, I'm okay. Just a little preoccupied, that's all." With that, Cloud left. Zack shook his head, _I really should shut up more often._

The Highwind lowered closer to the water. As it did, ripples began to form and a large triangular shape stuck out of the water. It began to slowly rise and was followed by a metallic, fish-looking creature. Its head looked blown in half, with the other half looking like a distorted creature. Sapphire lumbered onto land and opened its mouth. A thin beam shot out and hit one of the houses in Costa De Sol.

Zack looked at Cloud. _Alright, here goes nothing. _"So Cloud, what's the plan?"

"The plan? O...okay. Zack, you, me, Yuffie and Red XIII will hold off Weapon. The rest of you have to help everyone evacuate the town."

"Sounds good. Let's go."

The Highwind lowered to the ground and the four of them jumped out and rolled on the ground. The Highwind then moved away toward Costa De Sol and the four of them faced the rising Weapon.

"Suddenly, this doesn't seem like a good idea anymore." Yuffie said.

Red XIII countered, "Come on. Who's the one always saying you have to be more positive?"

"You're right."

Zack looked over to Cloud, who was now armed with a pair of fighting gloves that Tifa lent him.

"Cloud, will you be okay?"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Zack looked down briefly before pulling out the Buster Sword. _This isn't right. As weird as it is, he should be holding this sword._ His thoughts were interrupted when the giant monster roared at seeing them.

"Let do it!"

The gigantic monster/machine roared again and lashed down it tentacle at amazing speed. The four of them dodged the attack and scattered. Zack leapt forward into the water and slashed at the Weapon's armor. Not surprisingly, there was no damage aside from a slight scratch. Weapon then shimmered with energy and a destructive Bolt3 flashed. Zack was blown back and he slammed into the sand. Shaking it off, he looked up just in time to see the tentacle come down on. But it was suddenly knocked away by an attack from Red XIII. At the same time, a spinning object flew out at slashed the armor before bouncing off of it. Yuffie jumps into the air, catches it and slashed down on the Weapon again. Weapon snapped and knocked Yuffie down. Yuffie rolled and stood up. Weapon shimmered again with energy.

"Move now!"

All three of them jumped out of the way as Weapon opened its mouth. A thin white beam of light shot out and they had to run to avoid its destructive path.

"What do we do now?"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Where's Cloud?"

He was soon answered when a cry came out of nowhere. Cloud had launched himself at the weapon and struck it hard with his fist. Roaring, Weapon swung again and slammed Cloud in the water. Everyone else moved in to fight again as Cloud swam out of the way. Yuffie swung her shirken again aiming for the chest, but Weapon backed away. The shiriken however did manage to nick the side of the head. Weapon roared again, this time in pain.

"That's it. Aim for the head."

Zack and Cloud ran toward the Weapon while Yuffie and Red XIII stayed back. Both of them shimmered with energy and two Comet magic flew down and hit Weapon. Weapon turned on them and attacked, lashing out its tentacle arms. But Yuffie and Red XIII moved out of the way. At the same time, Zack and Cloud jumped on the arms and ran straight up to its head. Cloud attacked first, sending his fist straight into the side. To his surprise, he managed to crack through it. Weapon roared in agony and hurled Cloud right off. Luckily he landed in the water again. Zack turned his attention to the crack and positioned his sword.

"Climhazzard!"

Zack rushed forward and stabbed into the crack of Weapon. He then launched himself upward, creating a giant gash on the side of Weapon's head. Weapon roared even more and reeled back. Zack dove back down in Braver fashion and struck Weapon in the same area. Weapon roared further and then fell back, creating a huge splash. Zack landed on the water and raised his sword in victory. But it was short lived as Weapon began to move again.

"Aw, come on!"

But instead of rising, Weapon's chest opened. Everyone regrouped as they saw a dark figure come out of it. One they had seen already.

"Hojo."

_________________________________________

_AN: Sorry about the long delay, but I had to get my thoughts organized a bit._


	16. Bad news

Disclaimer: The same as before

Chap. 16

"Hojo."

The creature that was once Prof. Hojo levitated toward them. Everyone tensed up, ready to fight.

"I must say, impressive. I never thought you were capable of bringing down Sapphire. But it doesn't matter. It didn't have the energy we need for our purposes."

"What purposes?"

"Again with the questions? I'm beginning to believe that you can't figure anything out by yourselves. Alright, I'll tell you."

Hojo floated down and strode in front of them.

"Jenova is hungry."

"Huh?"

"Yes. For eons, she had been feasting on the life force of planets. When she came here, she tried to do the same. But the actions of the Cetra prevented that from happening and put her into hibernation. Now that she is fully awake, her appetite is quite ravenous."

"So what's the deal with Weapon?"

"Weapon contains some of the energies of the Planet. Even though destroyed, the power still remains. Power that can be quite useful to us."

"You demented freak. You plan to injure Planet with Weapon."

"Now you catch on. It quite ironic actually, using the Planet's own creations to destroy it."

"You're sick."

"Perhaps. But you won't live long enough to try anything."

Hojo then hovered again and everyone prepared to fight.

"Don't think you low-level life forms can possibly defeat me!"

Hojo raised his hand and summoned a Comet2 attack. Massive meteors smashed the ground before them, blowing them away. As they struggled to get up...

"Now you die!"

Hojo raised his hand again and summoned an Ultima spell. An explosion of green light occured and blasted them all away. Hojo looked at them with disdain.

"So much for that. Huh?" 

Zack and Cloud began to rise up again.

"I see. The Jenova cells within you two much dampen my powers a bit. No matter. You won't live long enough anyway...what was your name? Ah yes, Zack."

"What?"

"That's right. With the level of Mako in your body, you won't be able to handle it for long. In fact, I'm guessing that you are already feeling the side effects. It doesn't matter. Your body only served to revive Sephiroth, that's all. You will die soon. And by now, Sephiroth has reached Ultima Weapon. Bye."

Hojo suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving Zack to ponder over his words. _Is he...right? Is what he said true? _He looked down to his hands. _Am I dying?_

"Zack!"

Zack snapped out of his daze and looked over to the side. There, Cloud and Red XIII stood over Yuffie who was still unconscious.

"She was the closest to the blast. She's hurt real bad. And none of our Cure spells are working."

"Someone needs to get Aeris fast. Red, you have to go get Aeris."

"No. If I go, she will not make it. I...have an idea."

Red XIII stood over Yuffie, "There is a ritual technique that can keep her alive for awhile longer. But one of you will have to hurry."

"Cloud, you better go."

Cloud blinked and then nodded before running off. Red XIII closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He began to faintly glow in red energy. Zack only watched as the energy shimmered down and covered Yuffie. As this continued, Red XIII began to convulse slightly.

_Cloud, you gotta hurry._

The ritual continued and Red XIII began to convulse even more. Nevertheless, he continued, despite the obvious pain. 

"Red!"

Aeris had just arrived with Cloud behind her.

"Stop him. He's using his own life force."

"What?"

Immediately, Cloud pushed Red XIII away from Yuffie. Red XIII fell to the floor, weakened by the energy loss. Aeris then stood over and waved her rod around before striking the ground. White beams of energy shone down on Yuffie and glowed around her. They stayed there for a minute before going out. Zack then lifted Yuffie's head up. Her eyes blinked open.

"W...what happened?"

"Hojo. He almost killed you with that spell. If not for Red..."

"Red?" Yuffie sat up and looked as Cloud was trying to revive Red XIII. Sluggishly, he stood up, although he wobbled a bit.

She gave a weak smile, "You saved me Red."

He returned it, "You're welcome. Uggghhhh." Red XIII slumped into Cloud's arms. Aeris came over to examine him as the others arrived as well.

"He's okay. Just a little weak. What was he thinking? Any longer and he would have killed himself."

"What the hell happened? Did you guys beat Weapon?"

Yeah. But I think we have an even bigger problem..." Cloud related to them about the battle and Hojo's plans to use Weapon to injure Planet.

"They're going to do that. That's insane. The power of the Weapons is enough to destroy half the Planet itself."

"With an injury that big, Planet will have to heal. And if Jenova is there..."

"Yes. The Planet will die."

Cloud turned to Zack, who was standing alone at the edge of the water.

"Zack."

Zack was looking at his hands again and kept clenching them repeatedly.

"I finally awaken....only to learn that I will die."


	17. Ultima Weapon

Disclaimer: The same as before.

Chap. 17

Everyone has regrouped in an inn in Costa De Sol. The people returned to town after the attack.

Barret shrugged, "So what do we do now? We defeated Weapon, right? So there should be no more problems."

"No. Hojo said that they were going to use Ultima Weapon. But I don't see how. That Weapon crashed and exploded."

Cid shook his head, "Not quite. If it was a Weapon, then it may have survived the explosion."

"...canyon..."

Everyon turned to see a barely conscious Red XIII who was still suffering from the ill-effects of his energy transfer.

"....Cosmo....canyon.....weapon..."

Tifa's eye's widened, "Oh, no. Didn't Ultima crash near Cosmo Canyon?"  
  


Vincent nodded, "Yeah. If Weapon awakens there, it might..."

Red XIII struggled to rise, "Have to....go...."

Cloud went to his friend, "Lie still. You'll hurt yourself."

"No!" Red XIII growled, "It's....my duty...to protect it. I....can't...."

"Look. You're in no condition to go anywhere, let alone fight. Let us handle this."

Yuffie bent down to him, "Don't worry. We'll stop Weapon and protect Cosmo Canyon." she promised.

Red XIII looked around and finally slumped, "Okay."

Cid jumped up, "Then what are we doing here sitting on our butts? Let's go!"

Everyone boarded the Highwind and it sped away at full speed toward Cosmo Canyon. It wasn't too far from Costa De Sol, but it gave them time to prepare for the pre-emptive battle. During their preparation, Aeris managed to find Zack alone in the Chocobo stable.

"Zack. Do you want to talk?"

"......."

Aeris walks closer, "I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Do you know the one thing I regret?"

"Huh?"

"I regret not listening to you. You told me that the mission was dangerous, yet I went anyway. All of this....Cloud, Sephiroth, you. All because of me."

"Heh. I think I see how you and Cloud became friends."

"What?"

"I bet that right now, Cloud is blaming himself for everything."

"Probably."

"It's not his fault and it's not your fault. So don't blame yourself like this."

"I really missed you, Aeris. I was mistaken. My biggest regret is that I won't be alive with you."

Aeris looked away, "About that. I....won't be here long either."

"What do you mean?"

"I was only sent to aid the Planet. When that is over, I have to return to it. I won't be here long either."

There was a long moment of silence between them.

"Aeris. This...Promised Land. Do you think...I'll be able to see you there?"

Aeris looked away sadly, "I... honestly don't know."

"If that is possible, then perhaps dying wouldn't be so bad."

Zack reached out and grasped her hand. Aeris looked down and smiled before leaning her head on his shoulder.

The Highwind finally reached Cosmo Canyon. Everyone on board expected to see the worse-case scenario. However...

"Huh?"

To their surprise, Cosmo Canyon was virtually unscathed. The Highwind hovered there for a while and then moved over to where Weapon had been thought to been destroyed. On the hill was a few large marks reminiscent of claw marks

"So they did it. They revived Ultima."

"I don't get it. The place is untouched."

Aeris thought for awhile, "Well, they are going to use Weapon to destroy Planet, so maybe they're not going to waste time."

Zack stepped forward, "Let's head to the Northern Crater. We might be able to intercept it before it gets there."

Vincent moved next to Tifa, "Good idea."

Zack then looked over to Cloud, who had a dejected look on his face. Damn, I really should shut up. He then looked over to Tifa and Vincent. Oh, so that's it.

The trip to the Nothern Crater would take a little longer. Cid chose a certain route which was best able to intercept Weapon. Meanwhile, Cloud was in one of the other rooms looking out a window. Despite the discovery they made in finding out that Cosmo Canyon was safe, his thoughts were focused elsewhere. _Tifa__ and Vincent.__ I never knew.... I guess it really doesn't matter._

"Cloud."

To Cloud's surprise, it was Lucrecia, "Hi Lucrecia."

"Cloud. I think we need to talk."

"Okay. What about?"

"Your mother."

"Huh?"

"I believe I knew Bethany at one time."

"You knew...my mom?"

Lucrecia started to pace, "Long ago in Nibelhium. She was an energetic woman, but kind. She always knew how to make people feel better at times." Lucrecia then looked down. "We were good friends."

Cloud looked strangely at her and she was about to continue when....

_Alert! Alert! Weapon approaching!!!!_

"What?"

Cloud immediately ran to the bridge, leaving Lucrecia behind. He arrived on the bridge where everyone else already was. Heading toward them was a giant black shadow. It was the Ultima Weapon.

"Okay, how are we going to fight that?"

Well, we can't fight it in the air. We'll have to ground it."

"We'll have to rely on materia. Barret, you and Vincent have an advantage with your gun weapons. And Yuffie, your shirken will be good as well. The rest of us will back you up."

"Right."

"Once we ground it, then we can all attack and destroy it."

Ultima flew straight at them and they were waiting for it on the outer deck. The Highwind stopped and everyone waited for it to come. Weapon suddenly stopped and hovered in front of them

"What is it waiting for?"

Weapon's lower chest suddenly opened up and streams of energy shot out and surrounded the heroes. Cloud watched as everyone on the deck began to disappear. Then he saw nothing....

When Cloud awoke, he was in a darkened room. In the center was a giant glowing orb. It resonated with strange energy. Everyone lay unconscious around him.

"Where are we?"

"Inside Ultima."

That voice... Cloud looked up as a dark figure floated down from out of nowhere. The figure with a single black wing over his right shoulder and emanated with great power.

"Sephiroth."

Sephiroth looked down at Cloud, "It seems that we keep meeting like this."

Cloud stood up, "I'm going to stop you for good this time."

"Is that a fact? Without a weapon?"

Cloud raised his fists, "These will be more than enough."

Barret and Tifa awoke next to Cloud.

Barret rubbed his head, "Where are...whoa. I'll ask later."

"Cloud, are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah. We're inside of Weapon. Sephiroth brought us inside."

"Well, I guess that means we stop him."

Sephiroth floated down before and they tensed up as they set themselves to fight. He glowed in a beam of light and he suddenly transformed. When the light faded, he was in his alternate form. His right arm was a wing and his lower body was composed of six wings. He floated in the air and Sephiroth waved his left hand.

"Come."

_AN: Hmhmhmhehehehehehehe. Oh, what to do next? Hey, I know just the thing. And I think you'll love it. Maybe I lost my mind, but so what! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!_


	18. Revelation

Disclaimer: You already know

Chap. 18

Cloud and Tifa charged and leapt at the flying Sephiroth. But before their fists hit him, they ran into an invisible shield.

"He's got a barrier."

Sephiroth waved his wing arm and a burst of energy blasted them away. Barret decided then to make his move and began shooting. But the bullets too hit the Barrier spell. Vincent stood next to him and fired along with him, but they had little effect on Sephiroth.

"Shadow Flare."

A white flash followed by black particles of energy hit Barret with great force, knocking him back into the wall. Vincent ran over to check on Barret. _He's still alive. _Aeris moved next to them.

"I'll take care of him. Go."

Vincent nodded and went back to see that Zack and Yuffie, revived and fighting. But their attacks weren't working against Sephroth.

"Is this all you have to offer me?"

Vincent began to summon magic for a Destruct spell, but Sephiroth cut him off with a Flare magic attack. The powerful fire attack blazed and blasted Vincent before he could call the spell and he was knocked aside.

"Vincent!"

Tifa moved over to Vincent and he opened his eyes briefly before blacking out. Tifa jumped at Sephiroth, but he waved his wing arm and slammed her back into the ground

"Destruct!"

The invisible barrier shattered and splintered onto the ground. Sephiroth looked over to the summoner and saw Aeris standing there with her rod raised forward. Sephiroth was shocked.

"You're.....alive?"

Seeing the barrier down and Sephiroth distracted, Zack raised the sword for a Braver attack. But suddenly, he began to weaken and fell back to the ground. His body began to convulse and became racked with pain.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Zack bent to the ground and looked over to Cloud, who was just reviving again.

"Cloud....catch!"

Zack flung the massive sword and it stabbed into the ground. Cloud saw it and ran to reach it, but Sephiroth fired an energy beam causing him to slip. Cloud got up again and saw another beam flaring up again. But before it could fly out, a flying disk struck Sephiroth and chopped off the arm wing. Screaming in pain, Sephiroth turned to see Yuffie standing by as she caught the shirken. Enraged, Sephiroth turned his hand toward her.

"Yuffie, look out!"

Too late, Yuffie was struck with a Pale Horse energy beam. Yuffie was floored and for awhile, she didn't move.

"Yuffie!"

Suddenly, Yuffie began to glow in an unusual-looking energy. Her body began to shift and change. The others looked at her in surprise as her legs shifted and her hands turned into paws. When the glowing stopped, everyone was shocked. Yuffie had completely changed into a wolf-like creature. In fact, she looked a lot like Red XIII except that she had longer hair, was slimmer shaped, and had a darker shade of red.

"Yuffie?"

Yuffie howled and spun at Sephiroth, who was also surprised by the change. The blow dazed him slightly and Cloud saw his opening. Picking up and waving the Buster Sword, he then raised it and a sparkle appeared. Rearing it back, a massive twister of wind formed around Cloud and he swung the sword forward and the wind along with it. The windstorm hit Sephiroth and his wings tangled and twisted. He crashed into the ground and rolled around it for awhile before becoming still. He glowed again and reverted back to him natural form. Still weakened, Sephiroth struggled to rise. Cloud stood over him, sword posed and ready to finish him off.

"Cloud, no!"

"Huh?"

Lucrecia had finally revived and she waved her outstretched hand, "Don't do it."

I'm sorry Lucercia, but I must. If I don't, he'll destroy everyone." He raised the weapon above his head.

"But Cloud..."

"I understand that he's your son but this is the only..."

"He's your brother!"


	19. Background

Disclaimer: Stop such foolishness. I do not own this.

Chap. 19

"He's your brother!"

Those words rang in Cloud's ears like a like a bell horn. _Sephiroth__...my brother?__ That's...that's...impossible. No, beyond impossible._

"What are you talking about?"

Lucrecia stood up, "Your mother was also part of the Jenova Project. She was there in order to create a second prototype SOLDIER like Sephiroth. That person is you, Cloud."

Cloud shook his head. _This can't be right. It doesn't make sense. It's not true. It's not!_ Cloud raised the sword over Sephiroth once again, but found he was unable the draw the killing blow. _What's wrong with me? I can do this. I can finish him once and for all. But...what if she's right?_ Cloud became unsteady.

"You time has expired."

Cloud blinked just to see a dark energy sphere fly at him and hit him in the chest. In pain, Cloud saw that Sephiroth had revived.

"We'll settle this another time. Be gone!"

Sephiroth waved his hand and the entire cavern filled with white light. Cloud was blinded and then he blacked out again.

_Cloud.___

_I don't believe it._

_Sephiroth__.___

_It's not true._

_Brother._

_It's impossible!_

"Cloud. Cloud, wake up."

Cloud's eyes slowly opened to see Tifa's face.

"Cloud. Are you alright?"

Cloud began to sit up, "Tifa. Where…?"

"Cosmo Canyon. When Weapon shot us back out, Cait Sith managed to get the Highwind here. You've been unconscious for half an hour. Are you sure you're alright?"

Cloud shook his head lightly, "I think so. I remember we were fighting Sephiroth and we managed to bring him down. Then…" It can back to Cloud like a train.

"He's your brother!"

Tifa face grew more concerned, "Then what? What happened?"

"Where's Lucrecia?"

"She's outside with Vincent. Why?"

Cloud swiftly got up and walked to the door. Tifa followed, "What's going on?"

"That's what I'm going to find out."

Outside…

Lucrecia had just told Vincent about what happened inside of Weapon. Needless to say, Vincent was shocked.

"I don't believe it."

Lucrecia looked away, "I know. It sounds too much like a nightmare. But with what has happened to us in the past…This may be some ironic twist of fate."

Vincent saw the sad expression on her face. He raised an eyebrow, "Fate? Strange word for a scientist."

Lucrecia smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood, "Perhaps. But times can change a person." She then looked forward and saw Cloud beginning to approach them, "He's not going to like what I have to tell him."

"Nevertheless, he must know. We all do if we're to save the Planet."

Cloud and Tifa had reached Vincent and Lucrecia. Cloud's face was a mixture of emotions; fear, anger, surprise, and wonder all lined his face.

"I can imagine you have questions."

Cloud simply nodded.

"Alright. But we better let everyone else know as well. It may be crucial for them."

Later...

Everyone is now gathered around the campfire at Cosmo Canyon. Lucrecia stared into the fire as she gathered her thoughts.

"This is something that you should all know. It may affect the outcome of what may happen in the future." She looked at Cloud, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but there's no turning back what has happened." She took a deep breath.

"Cloud, you are the biological son of Bethany and Hojo. You are also the second product in the early SOLDIER experiment."

Cloud was clearly shocked. _Hojo__…is my father? I'm…a product…of SOLDIER?_

Lucrecia looked at his face once again, "Yes. It must be disturbing to know this, but there is more."

When it appeared that Cloud calmed down a little, she continued…

"It happened in Nibelhium a long time ago. It was a year after Sephiroth was born…

Flashback…

_"How is he?"_

_"As expected.__ His bio-readings are 10.5% above normal."_

_"Excellent."_

_"How is he?"_

_He's performing well. Better than expected."_

_"That's good. Can I see him?"_

_"Not yet. We still have some more tests to run."_

_"You're not finished yet?"_

_"You forget that this is a very delicate matter. I can't just let it be delay simply because of your feelings."_

Even before then, I knew that I would probably never see my son much, if at all. Hojo had changed a lot since the beginning of these experiments. He began doing more dangerous and horrific experiments after Prof. Gast's disappearance. And with many of the staff busy helping him, I was relatively alone. Vincent had disappeared a time ago. I didn't know about what Hojo did to him. Then she showed up...

_"Hey there.__ What some company?"_

_".........."_

_"That's okay. I'll just wait until you start talking. I don't have anything better to do."_

_A young blond-haired, blue eyed woman sat by Lucrecia and began to hum to herself. After a long while, Lucrecia looked up at her strangely._

_"Who are you?"_

_The girl smiled, "It's about time. I'd thought you'd never say anything. The name's __Bethany__. I live around here."_

_"Really?__ Must be quiet a lot."_

_"Yeah, but I have my way's around. So what's your name?"_

_"Lucrecia."___

Ever since then, we've been close friends. She would come by every while just to talk to me. I wasn't really sure why she decided to talk to me in the first place, but it didn't matter. I was just glad to have a friend. I never told her what I was truly doing there or about any of the experiment that took place. They were secrets after all. But after two months, I found out...

_"Another one?"___

_Yes. The progress with Sephiroth has caused us to take it a step further. We've already put it into action."_

_"Has a subject been chosen?"_

_"Five days ago. A resident of this area actually."_

_"A local?"_

I had a dread feeling of who it was and that fear...became reality.

_"__Bethany__?"_

_"Hey Lu.__ How are you?"_

_"You're the subject?"_

_"Yep.__ Looks like we can spend more time together now."_

She was offered a lot of money by Shin-Ra to participate. But truthfully though, I don't think she had too many friends and just wanted to be around me. Inwardly, I was horrified. Now she would be subjected to the same pain I me. But I promised myself that I would help her....somehow. I couldn't tell her up front the truth of the experiment. Not if I wanted to get her out alive. But first, she had to know. It took me months to try to get to tell her without arousing suspicion. But that time, the experiment was already in its initial stages. Hojo had already injected her with his DNA as well as the Jenova cells. When I did tell her, she was as mortified as I had been.

_"Why didn't you tell me before?"_

_"I couldn't. Before when we first met, you weren't even supposed to know. But when you became a part of it, I was too late to help."_

_"………"_

_"Please listen. All I want to do now is help you. And the only way you can do that is if you escape from this."_

_"Escape?"___

_"Yes. It will be hard and escape from Shin-Ra is no picnic, but it can be done."_

_"Why should I believe you?"_

_"Because, you're my best friend.__ And I don't want you or anyone else to suffer the way I have."_

After that day, I spent time in planning her way to break free. It took another two months to set up everything when I wasn't performing my other duties. During that time, the project continued and all that was needed was the child to be born. But that didn't happen…

_"Professer Hojo!__ A section of the corridor is on fire! __Bethany__ is trapped in one of the rooms!"_

_"What?"_

I had planned it well. I set the fire using gas. Knowing Hojo, if I used a Fire material, he'd know that someone did it on purpose. I managed to set a secret exit to where Bethany would escape and the fire would destroy it, leaving no evidence. I also smuggled one of Hojo's left over experiments in case the fire left some evidence of a body. Lastly, I hired a chocobo wagon that would take her far away from Nibelhium. It was there that I saw her for the last time.

_"Come with me."_

_"I can't. If I do, they would come after us. Besides, I am bound to all of this. Even though I may never be with him again, I will not leave my son."_

_"You've been a good friend, Lu. Thank you. Take care."_

_"Same to you."___

The fire had done more damage than I thought, but fortunately no one was hurt, aside from the 'dead' Bethany. Hojo was extremely furious that months of work had literally gone up in smoke; however the data he stored from it wasn't damaged. He re-focused his efforts on Sephiroth and I was left alone again. Later on, he took Sephiroth with him to Midgar and I went as well. During that time, I heard from someone in the slums that Bethany had been there with a child; a boy. I wanted to visit her, but she had already left again back to Nibelhium. I didn't worry, because officially she was 'dead'. Besides, Shin-Ra had left that place alone for a long time so she was not in danger.

Lucrecia looked up at Cloud, "That's the entire story, Cloud. 

Cloud sat there, saying absolutely nothing. Lucrecia half expected him to burst and yell and say that she was lying, but he did nothing. Quietly, he stood up and walked away from the other. When he reached a distance...

"Just when I think things couldn't get weirder, they suddenly do." Barret grumbled.

"Half-brothers. Somehow, that explains much." Red XIII commented.

"Who would have guessed?" Cait Sith added.

As they continued to comment, Tifa continued to watch Cloud as he walked on. This must be really hard on him. Looking over to Aeris, she slid closer to her so that only she could hear.

"You should go talk to him."

Aeris turned to her with a surprised expression, "Are you sure?"

Tifa nodded, "Yeah. He feels better when you talk to him. It's okay, I understand."

Aeris thought for a moment. _Should I do that? Wait. Maybe this is what the Planet meant when it said that Sephiroth was the key._ Aeris nodded, "Okay."

With that she got up and followed Cloud while Tifa watched her go as well. _He needs her right now. As long as he is alright, I'm happy for him._

Those thoughts however did stop the single tear from escaping her eyes.


	20. Prelude to the final battle

Disclaimer: Same as before

Chap. 20

Cloud."

Cloud had finally stopped walking and stood at the edge of the canyon. Aeris ran up behind him as he sat on the edge. Looking down, she then sat next to him. She was a little out of breath and panting a bit.

"Heh. Still have trouble running I see."

Aeris took another breath before smiling, "Hey, that's not fair."

"I remember when you were first like that. You said that maybe you could be in SOLDIER… SOLDIER. All this time and I already was one."

"Cloud."

"You know what's strange. I didn't fight Lucrecia back there. I could have exploded and said she was lying. Or maybe mistaken. But I did neither. I just accepted it as the truth. Because it was. Because it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since I heard the name Sephiroth, I always wanted to be like him. Then when he turned bad, I was relentless to stop him. Even before all of this, as a child, I always had a feeling that there was someone out there. Someone…like me."

Aeris put her hand on his shoulder, "It must be confusing. On the one side, you have the brother you never knew and on the other, you arch rival and enemy."

"If only…if only…"

"Things were different? It would have been a lot better. What will you do, Cloud?"

Cloud remained quiet. It was then that he noticed that her hand was still resting on his shoulder. He turned to meet her face and they stared at each others eyes. Softly, he took a hold of her hand…

Later...

The two of them came back to the campfire. Red XIII, Yuffie, Tifa, Zack and Cid were gone. Only Cait Sith, Lucrecia, Vincent, and Barret remained.

"Where is everyone?"

Cait Sith answered, "Well, Cid went back to the Highwind to check something. Tifa and Zack wandered off on their own. Red XIII went inside."

"What about Yuffie?"

"I don't know. After awhile, she just disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"Yep. Right after Red did." He stood up and stretched, "So what's our next move?"

"We stop Sephiroth. That simple."

"Are you sure? After knowing what you know?"

"It....can't be helped."

"Wait." Lucrecia stood up and stood before him, "There must be another way."

"There isn't one."

"There has to be!" Lucrecia's voice went far higher than usual. Cloud saw this. He then remembered Aeris's words

_Things were different? It would have been a lot better. What will you do, Cloud?_

"I'm open to suggestions."

Lucrecia nodded slightly, "Our bond. Just as you have a bond with Sephiroth as brothers, I have one as his mother. Even though the Jenova cells had been removed from my body, I am still connected to him. Before you do anything, let me try and talk to him."

"But that's too risky." This time, it was Vincent who yelled. "What if he kills you?"

"I am willing to take that chance. I can't let Hojo or Jenova use him for their own deeds. I have to try."

Vincent was about to protest when Cloud spoke again, "Are you sure about this bond?"

"Yes. That's how I knew you would accept what I told you. The Jenova cells make a person unnaturally strong and put them under her control. But she only has that control over someone with a weakened mental state. And it also produced a side effect in which family members infused with the cells are empathically bonded with one another. All I ask is to try. Please, Cloud. Vincent."

Cloud looked at Vincent and back at her and back at Vincent. He saw his friend struggle with the logic of her plan and finally cave in.

"Alright. We'll do it your way. But you'll only have 5 minutes. After that, if he hasn't changed even remotely..."

"I understand."

Later on, everyone regrouped. Since they have some time before they could do anything, they decided to spend the day separate to decide if they will go to fight, just like the time before they faced Sephiroth the first time.

_Kalm…_

Elmyra heard a knock at the door and sat up to answer. Opening it, she saw Barret standing before her.

"Oh, you guys are back? That sure took a long…" She noticed the look on his face. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

Barret scratched his head, "It's a long story." Barret then moved to the side and Elmyra looked past. Her eyes widened with shock.

"Aeris?!"

"Hi mom."

Elmyra suddenly ran out the door and hugged her tightly. Aeris smiled and hugged her back. Elmyra then moved away, tears fresh in her eyes.

"But how? I thought that you died?"

"As I said, it's a long story."

Aeris, Elmyra, and Barret sat down inside. Barret decided to tell the story while Elmyra partially listened. Mostly, she was staring at Aeris. But then Barret told her about Weapon and the possible destruction of the Planet, her attention returned.

"That's terrible."

"Yeah. We don't have much time. We have to go back there tomorrow and try to stop this."

"So you're leaving again."

"Afraid so. I just came back to see Marlene before I go."

Elmyra shook her head, "Honestly Barret, you shouldn't leave her so much. A daughter shouldn't be growing up without her father."

"I know, I know. Where is she?"

Elmyra pointed upstairs and Barret walked up, leaving her and Aeris alone.

"Mom."

"Wait. Aeris, I'm very happy to see you again. But I know you well enough to realize that something is wrong." She looked down, "You won't be here long, will you?"

Aeris dropped her head, "No."

"I thought so. Well, I'm glad to see you again. Even if it's the last time."

"Thank you, but that's not what bothering me. You remember Zack?"

"Yes. He was such a nice fellow. But then he had disappeared after some mission."

"Yes. He was still alive, but captured. Cloud and everyone found him, but now he's sick."

Elmyra sat back in her seat, "Oh. Is he here now?"

"Yeah. He's outside. He didn't want to scare anyone."

"Scare anyone? Is it that bad?"

"Yes. I…just wish I knew how to help him."

Elmyra stood up, "Go to him. One thing I've learned from you is that there's no better remedy than someone there beside you. Be with him."

Aeris smiled and hugged her, "Thanks mom." With that, Aeris went back outside.

_Cavern of the Gi, __Cosmo__Canyon___

Red XIII stood behind the stone statue that was his father. Normally, Red XIII comes here to think and be by himself.

_Father. How can I stop myself from feeling this way? It just isn't right. She is human after all. Or at least partly now. Why did this have to happen? I'm so confused._

"Feel like talking, Red?"

Red turmed his head, "Yuffie. I guess you are upset with me for what happened to..."

"I never knew you felt that way about me."

"Excuse me?"

She sat down beside him, "When you were healing me, I was able to sense your thoughts. Your feelings…" She looked at him, "You really feel that way about me?"

Red XIII looked down at the ground. Yuffie expected him to deny it. No, he won't deny it. I know that much.

Red XIII turned his head away, "I am such a fool."

"Why do you say that?"

"I felt this way for a long time. I don't know when it started, but suddenly it was there. I tried to ignore it, but the feelings were so strong." He began to move away, "I never thought a person like me would....I knew from the second I had these feelings, such a thing would be impossible." He stopped briefly and looked at her, "But the feelings remained."

Yuffie blinked as Red XIII moved away. As he walked...

"Nanaki."

She was using his true name. He turned and looked at her, only now she wasn't a young human woman, but a wolfish creature like him, colored in red, a darker red than him. Yuffie moved to him and softly rubbed her cheek against his before resting it under his chin. He was surprised by this, but he didn't stop her.

"I feel the same way."

Neither of them to notice the statue of Seto seeming to smile...

_Shin-Ra (Vincent's) mansion, Nibelhium…_

Lucrecia sat in the center room in front of a coffee table. Vincent came in later on with two cups of tea and sat on the opposite side of her. For a long moment, neither of them said a word.

"Do you enjoy quiet?"

"Hm? A little."

Lucrecia gazed at him and saw that he was a little nervous.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For what Hojo did to you. I never thought he would do anything like that." She looked at the cup, "But then again, I never knew any of the things he had done."

"Don't be sorry. You had nothing to do with it."

"But still. I aided him in many of his projects. Many others may have been hurt and I helped in it."

Vincent reached across the table and held her hand, "You mustn't blame yourself. None of this was your doing. I'm sure you wanted to use the knowledge you gained to help others."

Lucrecia didn't say a word as she stared at Vincent's hand that was holding hers. Vincent noticed it and backed his hands away.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Lucrecia arose and walked around the table before sitting next to him. She held his hands and lent her head on his chest. Vincent stared wide-eyed.

"I'm...not sure...this is appropriate."

"Shhhh. Just this moment, please."

Vincent blinked and then relaxed. For hours they sat there not saying a word, their hands intertwined and in the comfort of each other.

____

_Outside Kalm…_

"Zack."

She found Zack sitting on a boulder just outside of Kalm. His hood was still shadowing his face as he turned to her.

"Aeris."

"It's funny. You and Cloud pick the exact place to sit down and mope."

Zack grinned, although it couldn't be seen, "I am not moping. I was just…thinking to myself."

 "Sure." Aeris sat down beside him, "Why don't you just come inside with us? No sense in staying here by yourself."

"I don't want to scare anyone." His voice softened, "Especially you."

Aeris stood up and moved before him. Zack went to reach for his hood, but she grabbed his hands before he did.

"Zack. You don't have to hide from me. I'll care about you no matter how you look."

"Aeris."

Slowly, Aeris knelt down on the grass, still holding his hands. When she was comfortable enough, she reached up and slowly removed his hood. Zack's eyes were closed as she did so and when it was fully removed, he opened them. He looked down at Aeris's smiling face as she caressed his cheek.

"I will always love you."

Highwind...

Cid was busy working on the Highwind along with the other workers. Cait Sith later reactivated on the bridge.

"So you're back. How are things at Midgar?"

Cait Sith bowed his head, "Calm for the most part. But I think people are a little nervous. There have been sightings of a glowing light in the Northern Crater. Most likely Weapon."

"Well, it could be worse."

"We're about to go back to the heart of the Planet to fight a mad scientist, a alien entity, and a super soldier all bent on turning this world into nothing. And to top it off, he just happens to be related to our leader. I don't see how it could be worse."

"Well, uhh. He could be your brother. Haha."

"Very funny. Speaking of which, where is Cloud and the others?"

"Well, let's see. Vincent and Lucrecia are at Nibelhium. Aeris, Barret, and Zack all went to Kalm to see Elmyra. Red XIII and Yuffie are at Cosmo Canyon. I don't know where Cloud is, but Tifa is below deck working."

"She is? I thought she'd be with Cloud."

"So did I. I guess those two just don't get it yet."

"It's strange. They both feel the same way. They are so desperately in love it's obvious, yet they're so afraid of hurting each other."

"Actually, I think love is normally like that. Although those two are beginning to drive me crazy."

"Give them time. That's all we can do. Provided we survive all of this."

Elsewhere...

Cloud was alone by himself. He was sitting on a beach looking at the fading sun. Many things had happened to him all too fast. He just wanted some time to think about it. Tomorrow, they would fight again. _Fight against Jenova, Hojo and...Sephiroth. My brother, Sephiroth. It still too strange to believe, but it's true. But would I be able to fight him now? I'm not sure. I feel...so helpless. So weak. But I have to go on._ He stood up, _I have no choice._

_I must confront Sephiroth again. And this time, it's the last time..._

_But can I?_


	21. Finally

Disclaimer: Same as before. The end.

Chap. 21

The next day...

Everyone had now regrouped on the Highwind. The giant vessel soared through the air, its direction; the north. Its mission: to save the world..._again._

Cloud found Zack in the chocobo stable, sitting on the seat used to feed the chocobos. To Cloud's surprise, Zack was no longer wearing the dark hood and his face was exposed. But Zack didn't seem to care.

"Hey Zack."

"Hey kid. How are you?"

"Don't call me that." Cloud grimaced, but at the same time felt good that his friend was feeling better.

"Sorry. So...you nervous?"

"Nah. You?"

"Cool as a cucumber."

They stayed quiet for a brief moment before Cloud reached to his back and held out the Buster sword.

"Here. I forgot to give this back to you."

Zack looked at the massive weapon. It had some dents and ridges in it, but overall it was still a sharp and powerful weapon. _One that he will need.___

"No."

"Huh?

"You'll need this in the coming fight more than I will."

"But..."

Zack cut him off, "No. Look Cloud, I know how you feel. And I'm going to tell you right now to stop blaming yourself for what happened to me."

Cloud turned his head, "Why should I? It is my fault. If I wasn't so weak..."

"Cloud Strife, nothing about you is weak. You were the one who defeated Sephiroth in the reactor while I was tossed away. And it was you who defeated him the second time. And also, you managed to recover from a deep state of lost identity so that says a lot. I'm not sure about this thing about you and Sephiroth being brothers, but you must know that if there is a fight to the end, I'd bet all my cards on you." Zack pushed to sword to him, "This is your Buster sword."

Cloud stared at Zack before looking down at the sword. Nodding slowly, he refitted to sword onto his back.

"Thanks Zack. But I would have never found myself if not for Tifa. She helped pull me through."

"You should let her know how you feel."

"But...I don't know. What...if she goes for someone else?"

Zack raised an eyebrow, "Like whom?"

"Vincent."

"You are kidding right. From what I've seen, he's with Lucrecia."

"I'm...just not sure."

Zack could see that his friend doubted himself again. He then noticed his hands...

"Cloud, can I see those gloves?"

Cloud raised his hands and Zack examined them.

"Who gave these to you?"

"Tifa."

"These are Premium Hearts. Very rare."

Cloud's eyes widened as he looked at them. _Premium Hearts?_ Now wonder he was strong enough to crack Weapon.

Zack looked up, "From the look on your face, these must be her best gloves, not to mention most powerful. And she gave them to you."

"Why would she...?"

"Why ask a question to which you already know the answer?"

Cloud looked down again and Zack patted him on his shoulder. "Cloud. I know I don't have much time left. I also know how fleeting love can be. Don't waste it."

Zack then left Cloud to his thoughts. Cloud looked at his gloved hands. _She let me use her best weapon. But why? Does she really...?_

Later...

Tifa walked down to the lower part of the Highwind to the outside deck. There, Cloud stood leaning over the rail, his back toward her.

"Cloud."

Cloud slowly turned to her. _All right, there she is. Time to stand and deliver._

"Hi Tifa."

"Zack said you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah. I...uhhh...oh." _I'm going to kill him._ "I should give these back." He handed her the Premium Heart gloves. "Thanks for letting me borrow them."

_Well, I'm off to a good start, loser._

"Oh sure. You're welcome." Despite her smile, she felt a little down. She turned to leave when...

"Tifa...there's...something else." he said nervously.

"What?"

Cloud struggled with himself, "I...uhh...I...umm."

Tifa looked at him weirdly, "Are...you alright Cloud?"

Cloud found himself lost for words. _What are you doing, you idiot? Now! Do it now! Go for broke!_

Tifa moved to him, "Cloud?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"No, I'm not alright. I haven't been alright in a long time. But I'm going to change that....right now."

Tifa almost backed away. There was a steely way he said that. But that was nothing compared to what he did next. He moved to her and wrapped his arms around her. Tifa was completely surprised and her eyes locked with his.

"Tifa. You mean everything to me. Without you, I would have never have found myself, never discovered who I really am." He fidgeted but kept going, "Tifa, I...."

"Cloud, stop." She turned her head away.

"Huh?"

"I...know...how you feel about her." She could feel her tear slowly dipping down her face, "Aeris. You love Aeris."

Cloud looked at her face, "Yes, you're right. I do love Aeris." 

More tears began to flood from her eyes. She wanted to just run away.  And when he lossened his hold, she almost did. This just was too much. But she was surprised when he softly cupped her jaw and slowly turned her head to him.

"But I'm in love with you, Tifa." He moved closer to her face, "I always have been in love with you. I've just been too afraid to say it, until now." His lips where only a centimeter away. "I don't want to have to say goodbye."

Tifa looked at him; into his deep blue eyes. She was looking to see the truth. She saw nervousness, anxiety, fear and....love. Her eyes widened as the realization came to her. _He's afraid of losing me. He really loves me._

"Cloud..."

She didn't say another word as he closed the space between them. His lips softly caressed hers and she gave into him. _He really loves me._ Wrapping her arms around him, she held him tightly and she kissed him back. _He really loves me!_ At that time, they couldn't tell what moved faster, their lips...or their hearts. They embraced each other tightly as their lips feverously searched each other. After several minutes, they back away and Tifa began to cry again, with tears of joy.

"Oh, Cloud. I love you too"

Her head rested on his chest and he held on to her tightly. They could have stayed that way forever, but a chill of cool wind blew against them. They both turned and saw a column of light emitting from the center of the Northern Crater. As they drew closer, they were able to make out the shape of the Ultima Weapon.

"There it is."

Tifa looked back at Cloud, "Cloud."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you...for making this moment...special."

Cloud looked back at her and gave her another tender kiss. "No. Thank you, Tifa...for everything. Even putting up with me."

Cloud released her just as the others came on the deck. Zack gave Cloud a wry grin to which Cloud turned away in embarrassment. Everyone exchanged glances as they closed in on the light.

"So guys, this is it."

"Yeah. Let me be the first to say, this sucks."

"Heh, agreed."

"Oh well, you know the saying."

"Saying? Oh yeah."

"There no getting off the train we're on!"

As the Highwind entered into the light, Lucrecia thought to herself, _I'm coming Sephiroth. I'm coming, my son._


	22. Second Angel

Disclaimer: Same as before. Why do I even write these?

Chap. 22 (I think you'll love this one)

The Highwind enters into the gigantic gulf of light created by the Ultima Weapon. Everyone on board is blinded by it and suddenly, they could feel that they are being transported. When the light faded...

"Where are we?"

It took them a moment to realize that they were inside Ultima Weapon again. But this time, they weren't in the core area like before, but rather a darkened area. Before them was a long tunnel with a light at the end.

"That must be the core. Let's go."

They began to move when a sudden cry split the air. Turning around, they saw Zack on the ground, clutching his chest in pain.

"Arrggghhh!!!"

Aeris moved to him. "Zack."

Zack weakly looked up at her, "Don't worry....I can still...make it." He struggled to rise and manages to stand weakly upright.

"Zack, maybe you should..."

"No. I made it this far. I will go on to the end."

Cloud nodded solemnly and began to walk again when he felt...something. _A dark presence._ He felt this before. Right before...

"No!"

Cloud's head shot upward. Suddenly, Sephiroth materialized out of the darkness above them. His deadly Murasame sword poised downward in stabbing position. Like the angel of death that he is, he dove down, the same way he did to Aeris long ago. Only his target wasn't Aeris.

"Tifa, look out!"

Without thinking, Cloud rushed forward. Everything suddenly began to move in slow motion as Cloud ran to Tifa as Sephiroth dove in on her. The long blade came close to Tifa, but at the last second, Cloud pushed her out of the way. But it was too late for Cloud as the blade ran him through.

"Cloud!"

Sephiroth stood over his victim, sword still through him. In a swift motion, he removed the sword, letting Cloud fall to the ground.

"Cloud, no!"

The others were completely surprise by the whole ordeal. Tifa would have run to Cloud except for the fact that Sephiroth was standing between her and his unmoving body.

"Such a pity. He could have been one of us."

Tifa's grief turned to anger, "How could you?"

"He was in the way, as are you now." He then looks over to Aeris. "You have interfered for the last time. You should have remained dead."

Zack stood in front of her, despite his obvious pain. "You want her? You'll have to go through me, Sephiroth."

Barret and Cid stepped forward, "Yeah. You'll have to go through all of us." Everyone, except Lucrecia and Vincent stepped forward.

"I see. So be it."

Sephiroth waved his right arm out, extending his black wing. Then he slowly bent down and placed his hand calmly on his Murasame sword. Everyone got ready to fight and Zack stood in front.

"Get ready guys."

Sephiroth began to inch toward them and they got ready for whatever he would do. But suddenly, Sephioth straightened up and smiled.

"It's good that you all want to fight together. Death will be less harsh in company."

Sephiroth suddenly vanished and reappeared further away. The group was confused and Sephiroth began to wave his arm around. Streaks on light began to trace around.

"Sinfall."

A golden halo appeared above Red XIII head. Red XIII backed away, but it was too late. The spell took its effect and Red XIII was struck by powerful magic energy and slumped to the ground.

"Red!"

Yuffie growled and hurled her shirken at him. But Sephiroth merely deflected it with his sword and it got stuck in the wall. Sephiroth then vanished again and reappear next to her. His sword slashed out and Yuffie ducked it. However, the power from the swing knocked her to the side and she hit the wall.

"Yuffie!"

Sephiroth suddenly vanished again and reappeared in between all of them.

"Avalon!"

A column of fire exploded around him and knocked everyone off their feet. Everyone struggled to rise and Sephiroth raised his sword. Dark energy began to summon around him when…

Hey, Sephiroth..."

Sephiroth turned to the sound of the voice. His eyes widened slightly as he saw who it was.

"That...didn't...work on me...last time...remember?"

Cloud was rising from the ground, already on one knee. Sephiroth saw as yellow electricity sparkled around him. _What is this?_ Cloud stood up on his feet, knees bent and hands grasping the Buster sword. But what really shocked Sephiroth was what happened next. Cloud suddenly sprouted a wing out of his back, the same as Sephiroth's except that it was on his left side rather than his right. The others were shocked by this, but now this proves that Cloud is truly Sephiroth's brother.

_What? How? What is he?_ ,were the questions that rang through Sephiroth mind. Sephiroth now faced another one-winged angel.

_(AN: This may be a little short, but I'm working on it.)_


	23. Demons

Disclaimer: You know the drill

Chap. 23

"Cloud."

The others looked in astonishment as Sephiroth faced Cloud. With both of them now bearing a single wing, they both looked like strange mirror images of each other.

"So it's true. He really is Sephiroth's brother."

Sephiroth overheard them and looked back at Cloud. _My…brother?__ Impossible._ Still, the nagging feeling stayed within his head as he looked at the person before him, with the same raven-black wing. Sephiroth shook the though away and reached down to his sword again. Cloud raised his own weapon and called out.

"Guys. Go on ahead. I'll deal with him."

Lucrecia looked at him, "Cloud. I haven't…"

"Don't worry. I won't kill him. But this has to be settled now."

Lucrecia was about to protest again when Vincent touched her shoulder.

"No. Not now. We have to stop Weapon." He looked into her eyes, "You'll have your chance."

Lucrecia looked back at him and then at Sephiroth. Closing her eyes, she nodded.

"All right, let's go."

Everyone ran toward the tunnel, minus Cloud and Red XIII, who was still unconscious and being carried by Barret. Zack was also being helped by Cid. Tifa took one last look at Cloud.

_Be careful, Cloud._

Tifa then disappeared down the tunnel, leaving Cloud alone with Sephiroth. The two of them said nothing as they readied themselves. Sephiroth raised the Murasame next to his head and spoke in a shadowy voice.

"I'll show you to the Promised Land!"

Meanwhile, Barret, Tifa and the others reached the other end of tunnel. There, was the ball of light that was the core. But unlike last time, the core was glowing more brightly and intensely and it pulsated chaotically.

"Alright. So all we have to do is stop that, right?" Cid asked

"Right." Barret answered.

"I don't suppose you know how."

"Uhhh, well…I never really thought about it."

Cait Sith spoke up, "Why don't we use our materia?"

Lucrecia shook her head, "No, none of our materia is strong enough."

"What about Red? He's powerful with materia."

"How? He's been knocked cold."

"Fools!"

Everyone looked up to see Hojo descend before them. His appearance had altered and he looked more grotesque now.

"Did you really think that this would be left unprotected?"

Vincent came forward, "Hojo, are you so mad that you would willingly destroy this world? Is your science really worth the lives of innocent people?"

Hojo gave a distorted laugh, "Of course. I will learn more than what this puny race had to offer. Jenova has already shown me more than I ever could have known. I must find out what more can be learned. Human sentiment merely gets in the way."

Lucrecia came up as well, "Hojo, please stop this!"

Hojo waved his hand and swarms of Fire began to surround her. But before they could ignite, Vincent dashed forward and moved her out of the way. The Fire2 magic exploded around him.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"

"Vincent!"

Lucrecia stood up and moved over to Vincent's charred body. Vincent's eyes winced in pain.

"That is what I mean. All it does is get in the way."

"How could you do that?"

"To prove a point. I could care less about what happens to this insignificant planet. As long as I remain, that will be enough."

You're not the Hojo I remember. The Hojo I married would not have done what you are doing now."

"Spare me the theatrics."

Hojo levitated in the air and spread his arms. Tentacles shot out all over the place. 

"Now you all will perish."

Cid looked up at the creature, "Oh great. Now things are really getting out of hand."

"Yeah. And we're short three people." Cait Sith added.

Aeris came forward, "Don't worry. I'll stay back and heal these two. But it will take some time."

"Alright. That means we'll have to hold out until then."

Barret, Tifa, Cait Sith, and Yuffie came before Hojo while Aeris stayed behind to heal Red XIII and Vincent along with Lucrecia.

"Let's do it!"


	24. Truth

Disclaimer: Same as usual.

Chap. 24

SRRAANNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

SHRRREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

Sephiroth and Cloud fought with each other, seeming to defy gravity as they swooped through the air in their fight. Cloud landed on the ground and shot forward in a blade of energy, but Sephiroth vanished. Cloud repeated the action and Sephiroth disappeared again.

"Is that all?"

Cloud frowned and struck out a third time. Sephiroth disappeared and Cloud suddenly jumped high into the air. When Sephiroth reappeared, he was hurled back by Cloud enhanced Braver technique. Sephiroth suddenly levitated off the ground and Cloud came at him again.

"Avalon!"

A pillar of fire exploded around Sephiroth and blasted Cloud away. Cloud slid on the ground and Sephiroth leaped up in the air. Landing next to the fallen Cloud, Sephiroth slashed out. Cloud barely managed to block the attack and rolled before Sephiroth could strike out again. Cloud stood up and readied himself and saw Sephiroth raise his sword and summon energy. The area turned dark (Darker than before) and Sephiroth posed himself

That form. I've seen it before 

"Meet your fate!"

Sephiroth suddenly came at Cloud, swinging his sword at blurring speed. Cloud suddenly recognized the technique. 

That's...Omnislash! 

Cloud desperately tried to defend against it, but the force of power was overwhelming him. Sephiroth then leaped high into the air, sword emblazed with white energy. Cloud rolled back as Sephiroth struck down with tremendous force. A dark shockwave emitted out and floored Cloud with powerful energy. Cloud was hurled back against the wall. Sephiroth began to wave his arm around.

"Sin Harvest."

But before he could complete the technique, Cloud's wing suddenly shot up and Cloud flew straight at Sephiroth, sword arched. Sephiroth had to stop the move and teleport away before the Buster Sword came down on him. Cloud swooped to the next area as Sephiroth appeared and Sephiroth had to block the next strike. Sephiroth struck back and Cloud defended against it as well. Cloud landed on the ground and Cloud saw him summon the Omnislash again.

_Not again._

Quickly, Cloud raised his own blade and set it forward. It glowed in light energy and Cloud rushed forward. At the same time, Sephiroth set his weapon and lunged at Cloud. Their weapons clashed and suddenly began to move rapidly. Both warriors used the Omnislash technique on each other, their strikes clashing with intense speed and power. Finally, they both leaped up into the air, posed to strike the final blow.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

The final blows exploded with enormous power and the whole area filled with bright light. Slowly the light faded away and both warriors stood there with their backs toward each other. A moment of silence passed and Sephiroth stumbled on to the ground. Cloud turned toward his fallen opponent, sword still in hand and raised it. The sword came down and suddenly...stopped a mere inches away from Sephiroth's face.

"Why...did you stop?"

"I...can't bring myself to kill my own brother."

Cloud backed away and Sephiroth looked up at him. Suddenly without warning, he disappeared.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group was battling off the fully mutated Hojo. Hojo waved and activated a Wall enemy skill.

"Not this again!" Barret grumbled.

Hojo let loose a Lightning3 spell and it struck the entire area. Luckily, the four rolled out of the way as it came down. Cait Sith pulled out an Ice materia and summoned it. The Ice2 spell hit, but Hojo was unharmed.

"Imbeciles!"

Hojo then summoned Reflect magic around himself just as Yuffie called Fire2 magic. The magic reflected and exploded around her instead.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!!"

Yuffie fell back and growled. Her eyes sudden glowed and she began transforming. Her teeth grew long and sharp and fur began to sprout. On impulse, she back flipped and changed completely into her wolfish form. Hojo looked at her curiously.

"Well, this is an interesting concept. I would take the time to study you, but you're not important."

Yuffie howled and spun at him in attack, but the Wall skill blocked the attack and Yuffie slid back.

"Disappear."

Hojo raised a tentacle and fired a blast of energy at her. Yuffie was about to be hit, but Tifa swiftly dashed in and pulled her away. But both girls were hit by the aftershock and knocked down.

"All right. Let see you block this!"

Barret's gun-arm began to smoke and he shot up into the air.

"Catastrophe!"

Barret fired an intense blast of energy, engulfing Hojo in an orange stream of power. But Hojo's defenses cut the damage down, and the blast was straying off so that the entire beam didn't hit him with full power. Barret fell down, exhausted.

"Hmph. Stop."

Hojo summoned another magic and Barret sudden froze still. Hojo then readied another energy blast from his tentacle when...

"Gunge Lance!"

Looking to the side, he saw Cid surrounded by orbs of energy and disappear. Rain began to fall and a black portal opened. Out of it, a massive six-legged horse came out and on top of it, an equally massive knight holding a gigantic, red-glowing lance. Odin looked at Hojo briefly before aiming his lance upward and tossing it up. A bright light formed and Hojo was blinded before the descending weapon struck him. Hojo reeled back and Odin disappears, with which Cid returned. Needless to say, Hojo was pissed

"How dare you!"

Hojo clasped both his hands and tentacles together and point them toward Cid. A black ball of energy formed and Hojo flung it at the pilot. Cid dodged just barely as the ball exploded. Cid fell down and was knocked unconscious.

Meanwhile, Aeris was watching the battle and saw that everyone was losing. Cid was out cold. Barret was frozen by the Time magic. Zack, Red XIII, and Vincent were wounded and needed healing. That only left Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Tifa.

_I may have to use Heavenly Gospel. But...if I do, I might use up all of my power._

"Ugghhh."

Aeris turned to see Zack sitting up. Aeris put her hand on him.

"Stay still. You need to rest."

Zack looked over and saw the others fighting.

"I...have to..."

"You are in no condition to fight with them."

Zack was about to protest when a surge of pain ran though his. He gasped and Aeris held him up. Zack then began to calm back again and the pain ceased. He looked down.

"Aeris. I'm...not going to last long, am I?"

Aeris looked down, giving Zack his answer.

"Then I have to do what I can...while I still can."

Aeris nodded solemnly and looked up, "Hojo is using a Wall skill and a Reflect shield. And without Red XIII, we can't use a Destruct magic strong enough to break it."

Zack stood up sluggishly and grinned, "Well then, we'll have to hit him with something hard."

Zack suddenly rushed at Hojo, grasping a green materia in his fist.

"Let's see you reflect this!"

Zack shimmered with energy and summoned Ultima. A green light encircled Hojo and exploded in a brilliant flash of light.

RAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Hojo was engulfed by the magic blast, but Zack was caught in it as well.

"Zack!"

Zack was blasted back and he slid on the ground. The light grew briefly and then faded away. Tifa and Cait Sith bent down to pick him up.

"Zack? Zack!"

Zack remained still for a while and then blinked lightly.

"Uggghhh. Not...such...a...good...idea."

They were just helping Zack to his feet when suddenly Sephiroth swooped down before them. He was apparently exhausted and battered from his previous fight, but still threatening.

"You...will not...go any further."

Sephiroth raised his blade. Tifa began to worry. Cloud, what happened to you?

"You will never...hurt my mother."

"Sephiroth please listen to me. I am you mother!"

Lucrecia had just moved away from Aeris and boldly stepped up to Sephiroth.

"Please listen. Jenova is not your true mother. I was the one who gave birth to you."

"Lies."

"Your power comes from the Jenova cells that were implanted in me while you were in my womb. But biological, you are my son."

"Stop it! I don't want to hear anymore!"

"Please. You must shut out her voice. You can do it."

"Silence!"

Sephiroth suddenly vanished and dashed at her, his Murasame sword impaling straight through her. Lucrecia gasped, but she didn't scream.

"Lucrecia!" Vincent cried.

Lucrecia open her eyes slightly and looked at Sephiroth, who was still holding her. Shivering a little, she began to sing softly.

_Estuans interius_

_ira vehementi_

_Estuans interius_

_ira vehementi_

_Sephiroth_

_Sephiroth_

Sephiroth's eyes widened, I know this song. _I remembered it...before I was born. It means: Burning inside with violent anger. Wait? When I was…born? I was born?_

"I made up that song while you were inside of me. You...could never...keep still...heh."

Lucrecia began to slump to the ground. Sephiroth instantly removed his saber and held her. His hand moved to her back. The second he touched her, he felt..._a connection?_

Lucrecia looked up at her son and raised her hand to his cheek. Sephiroth let it stay there for a moment before covering it with his own hand. A single tear came out of his eye. _Why...do I...cry?_

Lucrecia gave a small smile, "Sephi...roth...I'm sorry...for everything." Her other hand moved around his waist. "At least...I...get to hold...you...now...my...son." She closed her eyes and her hand fell away from Sephiroth's face. Sephiroth looked at her for a while before moving his hand from her back. He was shocked by what he saw. His hand was covered with her blood..._and a single black feather._

"Failure."

Hojo suddenly came out and stood behind Sephiroth. "Yet another failed experiment. I don't understand how she lived as long as she did. At least she served her purpose."

Vincent managed to stand up, "You...you...how could you say that?"

"It's true. Her only purpose was for her to conceive Sephiroth. Once that was done, her use in the experiment was finished."

Vincent growled and began to transform. Black wings started to sprout and his eyes glowed red.

"What kind of monster are you?"

Hojo smirked, "Look who's talk...hukkkkkkk!"

Hojo's eyes widened when he saw a blade had stabbed him straight through his heart. It was the Murasame.

"Sephiroth?"

The one-winged angel stood over Hojo and pressed the blade further into him.

"But...I...am...your father."

Sephiroth didn't respond as black energy began to course its way through the sword. The dark energy struck Hojo and he screamed.

"RRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Hojo was totally incinerated by the energy and exploded. Sephiroth stood in that place for a minute before moving back to Lucrecia.

"M...m...mother."

Suddenly, a massive explosion erupted behind them, knocking everyone off their feet. A giant feminine shaped creature arose and tentacles sprouted out from behind.

"Jenova."

_(AN: This took awhile, but it is here.)_


	25. Last Stand

Disclaimer: I do not own this. But you already knew that.

Chap. 25

Everyone looked up as the creature Jenova arose from its abyss. She stood over all of them and had tentacles waving around.

Aeris whispered, "Jenova."

Looking around, she saw Sephiroth that had disappeared and the others were in sore straits. Not to mention that Cloud wasn't there. Is he...No, I mustn't think like that.

Tifa moved over to Aeris.

"Aeris. Are they okay?"

She motioned to Cid and Red XIII, "Yes. But it will take some time for them to revive." She then looks at Zack, "And he's too strained to fight right now."

Tifa nodded, "Looks like we'll have to hold them off until they wake up. Or until Cloud gets here."

Aeris didn't answer. Rather she stared intently at Jenova. Suddenly, Aeris stood up.

"I'll handle Jenova."

"Aeris?"

"Don't worry. I can handle it. Besides, I can't stay in the back forever." She looks over to the unconscious Zack, "Please watch him for me."

Tifa looked strangely at Aeris before nodding, "Okay. I will. Just be careful."

Aeris then strode straight up to Jenova. The creature looked at her with a wicked glare and spoke with a bell-like voice.

"Creta..."

"Jenova. You will harm this world no longer!"

A stream of energy swirled around her and she raised her staff. She began to glow as she readied herself to fight. Jenova seemed to grin and her tentacles spread out.

"Now to rid myself of your kind."

Jenova lashed her tentacle out at Aeris, but it hit an energy field that surrounded her. Jenova was surprised, but summoned up a Fire3 magic spell. Aeris raised her arm upward and her staff glowed red briefly. She then shot her arm forward and Jenova was engulfed in a even stronger Flare spell. However, Aeris looked in surprise as the damage quickly healed.

"Return to your Promised Land!"

Jenova stretched her arm out and a massive sphere of energy formed. Lifting it up, she then hurled it at Aeris. Aeris quickly put her arms out and her staff floated before her. A stream of energy flooded out and countered Jenova's beam.

"Wow, Aeris."

Aeris has her hands outstretched and she is trying to force the power back, but Jenova  doesn't budge and begins to overwhelm her. Jenova's energy then hits full force and starts to fly at Aeris.

"Aeris!"

Suddenly, a form grabbed Aeris and pulled her away just before Jenova's magic slammed into the ground, causing a loud explosion. Jenova looks over and Aeris looks up to see...

"Cloud. You're alive."

Cloud nods and then turns to Jenova, who seems to regard him

"Child."

Cloud gets up and sets his weapon forward. Jenova does nothing as Cloud charges. Suddenly, Cloud is slammed away by wave of energy that hammers him to the ground. Cloud is unable to move.

"Remember, you are my child."

Cloud slowly gets up and suddenly grips his head, "No. No! I won't!" The black wing on his back retreats into his back and Jenova's face is of shock.

"You defy me? Perish then."

Jenova's tentacle raises and a beam flashes out. Cloud looks up to see it coming, but it is too late to avoid it.

"Cloud!"

Suddenly, Tifa makes a mad dash to Cloud. The beam came just as Tifa grabbed Cloud and stood in front of him. The beam hit both of them and they were hurled to the floor. Jenova smiled at them before raising another tentacle, this one covered with spikes, ready to run them through.

"Ah!"

Jenova wheeled around to see Barret, gun-arm raised and smoking.

"Do it now, cat!"

Behind him, Cait Sith was charging with energy. On the chest of the moogle, a slot machine appeared and began to stop. The first slot was part of Cath's face. The second matched it. The third began to slow down.

"Come on, come on!"

It stopped..._on a bar._

"Damn!"

A group of toy soldiers appear and fired their rifles. Although they hurt Jenova, it wasn't damaging enough. Jenova pointed at them and a wave of Gravity shocked them to the ground.

Meanwhile, Cloud was recovering from the last attack and sits up with Tifa.

"Tifa, are you okay?"

"Yeah. My leg is a little hurt though."

They both looked up as Jenova began to shimmer with energy.

"Wait. Look there in the back."

They saw a thick tentacle connected to the base of the core. It began to glow as Jenova shimmered with energy.

"That's it. She's drawing power from the core."

"I'm on it."

Cloud quickly dashed to the tentacle and leap up into the air. The Buster sword came down hard, but the tentacle wasn't even cut.

_What? Not a scratch. I better upgrade._

Cloud posed his sword forward and it shimmered. It transformed from the dull silver blade to a white-blue crystal blade. Cloud raised it over his head, but neglected to look over to see whether Jenova noticed him. A Fire2 spell slammed near him and he fell down again. His Ultima Weapon skidded across the floor away from him. As Cloud struggled to rise, Jenova prepared another spell when a shot rang out. Jenova turned ans saw both Vincent and Cid, both ragged but standing. Cid leaped up into the air, lance posed to stab down, nut he suddenly froze in the air. Vincent raised his rifle to shoot again, but was frozen by the time spell as well.

"Cloud, catch!"

"What?"

Jenova suddenly turned as a reawakened Zack tossed Cloud his Buster sword. Jenova screamed in defiance and attacked, but suddenly saw a glow of energy behind her.

"Cosmo Memory!"

"All Creation!"

Both Red XIII and Yuffie were up and fired heavenly blasts of energy and Jenova was torched by it. At the same time, Cloud leaped up into the air and aimed at the connection tentacle.

"Haaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!"

The crystal weapon slashed down and severed the tentacle. Jenova screamed again and the entire cavern shook. Aeris spun her staff one final time.

"Be gone!"

Aeris stuck her staff in the air and white beams of energy poured out and attacked Jenova.

That's...Holy!"

The magic attack surrounded Jenova and she began to dissolve. Holy then exploded in pure, white light, causing everyone to cover their eyes. After a long while, the light faded and Jenova was gone.

The cavern continued to shake and a loud roar echoed through the place.

"Time to go!"

Everyone helped picked up the injured and ran out. They reached the room they were in before when they first entered, but they saw no way out.

"We're trapped."

"No way. Lady Luck will come through."

Just as he said that, a crack emerged above them in the dark room. It grew bigger and bigger and eventually shattered open. A ladder flopped down before them.

"The Highwind! Let's go."

Everyone quickly grabbed the ladder and began to climb up and out and the Highwind moved up from the shaking Weapon. Looking down, they saw Weapon shake and roar and begin to fly upward.

Aeris noticed the action, "Weapon is trying to leave the Planet before it explodes. It's trying to save it."

Ultima Weapon struggled to make its ascension out of the crater. But it seemed to be drained of power and it was moving out very slowly.

"Weapon won't make it. Its going to blow before it can make it to the atmosphere."

"Isn't there something we can do?"

"The only other thing is to destroy Weapon now before it self detonates."

"How? I don't think any of our magic materia has that kind of power."

"I've got an idea. Turn us around."

The Highwind turned around back toward the Weapon.

"If we can't use magic, then we'll have to summon something with that power."

"A summon spell?"

"Yeah. And I have just the one."

Cloud reached in his pouch and pulled out a red materia. He hooked it to his sword and began summon the monster when suddenly, Cloud fell and was pulled right off the side of the Highwind.

"Cloud!"

Looking over the side, they saw Cloud holding on to the ladder right over the glowing Ultima Weapon. Looking down, Cloud sees a tentacle holding onto his leg. Jenova, or better yet, what remained of her was firmly gripped on and pulling its way up. Cloud struggles to get her of, but it is no use. Tifa sees this from above.

"Cloud!"

Jenova slowly makes her way up to him when suddenly she screams. Looking on the opposite side of the ladder was...

"Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth had impaled Jenova, causing her to release Cloud. Sephiroth then manages to climb between Jenova and Cloud and takes a look at him. Cloud looks back at him and for a brief moment, time slowed down. Sephiroth's white hair waved around as he regarded him. Those eyes... Different color, but they are the same as mine. All this time, and my family was right there.

"I have no right to say this, but please forgive me for all that I have done to you."

Cloud blinked as Sephiroth shifted his body closer to Jenova. Sephiroth then gave Cloud a smile. Not his usual eerie one as before, but a true smile, one that Cloud has never seen before in his entire life

"Farewell, my brother."

With those finally words, Sephiroth leaped off the ladder, taking Jenova down with him. As he did, Jenova shrieked and he began to laugh insanely

"So 'mother', we shall die together! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The two forms disappeared into one of the cracks of light and unearthly screams were heard coming from it. Cloud dangled on the ladder, taking in what just happened.

"Sephiroth. Farewell."

Cloud climbed up and Barret helped him in on the deck. Ultima Weapon was now next to them and still moving slowly. The cracks of light became bigger and more energy began to pour out. Cloud quickly grabbed his sword and used the summon spell.

"Hope this works. Tera Flare!"

Cloud vanished and everyone looked up high into the sky. In space, the armored dragon flew out from the sunlight and into position. Its six wings spread; Bahamut Zero charged its most powerful attack. Its head reared back and suddenly lurched forward, sending a bright beam of light down to the Planet. On the Highwind, everyone saw the twinkle of light...

"Oh crap. We gotta move now."

Cid quickly slid on the ground and pulled a latch. The Highwind's propellers jettisoned off and were replaced with booster rockets. The Highwind quickly shot away as the Tera Flare completely engulfed the Weapon and totally Weapon exploded. A massive wave of energy shot out and the Highwind was hurtled through the air. Everyone struggled to hold on and Cid managed to get it to land. Getting out, everyone looked as the explosion rocked the ground and a sphere of light grew to an immense size before ultimately dissipating. Cloud reappeared before them and bet down to the ground, exhausted. Everyone looked up to see Ultima Weapon was completely gone.

"We...did it. It's really over."

_Alternate…_

"Oh crap. We gotta move now."

Cid quickly slid on the ground and pulled a latch. The Highwind's propellers jettisoned off and were replaced with booster rockets. The Highwind quickly shot away as the Tera Flare completely engulfed the Weapon and totally Weapon exploded. A massive wave of energy shot out and the Highwind was hurtled through the air. Everyone struggled to hold on and Cid managed to get it to land. Getting out, everyone looked as the explosion rocked the ground and a sphere of light grew to an immense size before ultimately dissipating. 

"Look!"

Everyone looked up as Bahamut Zero came out of the bright light, its six wings flapping strongly. And on top of his back was Cloud, still holding the Ultima Weapon sword. The way they looked together was very similar to what Odin looks like of his horse, except here, it was a dragon. _A dragon knight._

"Alright. He did it!"

Cloud jumped off of the dragon and it disappeared. He landed softly and then bent down in exhaustion.

"We...did it. It's really over."


	26. The End?

Disclaimer: Same as before, as usual

Chap. 26

The group of Avalanche has landed away from the explosion and it had cleared up now. Jenova was gone, as was Sephiroth. The Planet was safe once again...at a cost.

"Zack."

Aeris was seated on the ground, holding up Zack's head. Zack's eyes fluttered open and focused on her.

"Hey...good-looking. Did...we win?"

"Yes. We won. Now be still."

"Aeris. I just want you to know...I have and I will always love you."

"Zack." Tears began to streak down her soft face.

"Please...don't cry. You are too...beautiful to cry."

Aeris sniffed a bit more before stopping herself. She held his head up to her lap.

"Can you...so something for me?"

"What?"

"Smile." He raised his hand to her cheek,  "Let my last image of you be that way."

Aeris nodded and kissed him tenderly. When she backed away, she had a small smile on her face. Zack gave a small sigh.

"Thank...you...Aeris. Goodbye you all." Zack's eyes closed and he whispered, "Aeris. If you can...show me...the way to the...Promised Land."

His arm fell down and he stopped breathing.

"Zack."

Tifa looked over to Vincent, who had placed Lucrecia's body on the ground and was bent over it.

"I'm sorry Vincent."

Don't be. She got to do what she wanted. And in the end, she smiled.  As long as she was happy in the end, I will feel no sorrow." His hand dropped down and caressed her cheek.

"Goodbye...my love."

"Ahh."

Everyone turned to see Aeris surrounded by globes of white light. A green wave emanated from the ground.

"Aeris?"

"It's time. I have to go back."

"Back?"

"Yes. My work here is done. I have to return back to the Planet."

Cloud looked up at her sadly, "Must you go?"

"Yes. This is how it must be, Cloud. This is...who I am. The last Creta and the guardian of this world."

Cloud walked up to her as the energy continued to swirl around her and stood face-to-face. Tifa fidgeted slightly, but remained still. Cloud then embraced Aeris in a warm hug in which Aeris returned.

"So I guess this is goodbye."

"No. I will always be here." She began to fade and the energy sprinkled on Zack and Lucrecia, causing them to fade as well.

"Think about me, will you all?"

Barret nodded, "Sure."

Red XIII agreed, "Always."

"No problem." Yuffie added.

"Okay." Cid answered.

"Thank you...for everything, Aeris." was Tifa's response.

Cath Sith jumped a bit, "We'll miss you."

Cloud simply nodded and Aeris whispered to him, "Remember what we talked about."

"I will. Goodbye Aeris."

The sparkle of light grew even more and Lucrecia and Zack faded away. Aeris turned to give one final wave before completely disappearing.

"See ya around." 

With that, the young flower girl disappeared into the sunset. As they watched, Tifa moved closer to Cloud and let her hand drift. Cloud noticed and let his hand down and clasped hers, squeezing it slightly. She returned it and gave a small smile. But they seemed to have forgotten that there were others with them.

"About time." Barret and Cid grumbled at the same time.

_Years later..._

"So how are they, doc?"

The group had reassembled at the hospital. Barret with Marlene, Red XIII with Yuffie, in human form, and Cid with Shera.

"Are you family?"

"Friends."

"Mrs Strife is okay and resting comfortably. As for Mr. Strife, I believe he's still nursing his hand now."

Barret laughed, "Hahaha. I wish I could have seen that." Turning back to the doctor, "Can we go see them?"

"Oh yes. But it'll has to be brief."

As the doctor lead them to the room, Cait Sith noticed something.

"Where's Vincent?"

Cid answered him, "No one knows. He went traveling awhile ago and no one has seen him since."

Shera shook her head sadly, "Poor guy. I guess he took her death a lot harder than I thought."

"Now this is hardly the time to speak of death."

Everyone's head snapped up. There standing in front of the door was...

"Vincent!"

Vincent waved at them.

"When did you get here?"

"An hour ago. Good thing too. I had to help Cloud out to get his hand checked out. Man, can he scream."

They all entered the room to see Tifa in bed. She looked exhausted, but was smiling.

"Hey guys."

"Heyy, Tifa. You look like crap."

She gave a fake frown, "Thanks for the encouragement."

The nurse then brought in two bundles of cloth.

"Mrs. Strife. Your son and daughter."

Yuffie smiled, "Wow, twins. I know how that feels."

Red XIII cringed a bit, "Yeah."

Yuffie saw his expression, "I said I was sorry. You try giving birth to two children at once."

"That doesn't mean you should try and bite my head off. Literally."

"Speaking of which, where's the proud father?"

"Right here."

Turning to the side, they saw Cloud come in. His right hand was wrapped in bandaged. Everyone laughed, even Red XIII and Vincent.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get it out. Get it all out."

"So what are their names?"

Cloud sat on a chair next to Tifa as she answered, "Aerith and Zack."

"Those names?"

"Yeah. Without them, we wouldn't even be here. I figure this would be our way of honoring them."

The group nodded and the doctor returned, "Alright, it's time for you to leave now. She needs her rest."

Everyone headed for the door and walked out, leaving Cloud, Tifa and their children.

"Mr. Cloud, you too."

Cloud nodded and gave Aerith and Zack a small kiss on their foreheads and moved over and gave Tifa a tender kiss on the lips.

"See ya in the morning."

Tifa smiled and nodded and Cloud left the room.

Aeris, Zack. I will always remember you. And yes, even you Sephiroth.

Unbeknownst to all of them, a shadowy figure was watching everything from outside. She had a sweet smile on her face as she saw what transpired. Another figure soon joined her.

"Did you hear? They named them after us."

"Yeah. You always were the best, Cloud."

"It's strange."

Two more figures joined them, one male, and the other female.

"What is, Sephy?"

"One, don't call me that. Two, its about Zack. His hair is...like mine."

"Don't worry. I'm sure the children will be in a real, good family."

Sephiroth moved toward the window as Tifa slept. Opening his fist, he left a shining red materia near the flowers and moved away.

"I have given them so much pain. But perhaps a time will come when I can help them."

"Sephiroth. I though you were going to let it go."

"I am. This is the way I will do it. As a summon."

"Come on. We've been here long enough. Let's return."

"Yes, mother."

AN: Finally finished. You know, this came out a lot better than I planned. I'd like to thank everyone for your reviews and even if you didn't, thanks for reading. Sayonara.


End file.
